• dtcpay closed a $25 million Series A around September 18, 2026, split across two tranches — an April close led by Vertex Ventures SEA & India, and a September close with SBI Group, Genedant Capital and existing investor Kwee Liong Tek — bringing total disclosed funding since a June 2023 $16.5 million pre-Series A to roughly $41.5 million.
• SBI Group invested through two distinct vehicles, SBI Ventures Asset Pte Ltd and the SBI-NTU-Kyobo Digital Innovation Fund, spreading a Japanese conglomerate's exposure to Singapore-licensed stablecoin infrastructure across two mandates rather than one balance sheet.
• dtcpay holds a Major Payment Institution license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore under the Payment Services Act, per MAS's own Financial Institutions Directory, and is separately pursuing an Electronic Money Institution license in Luxembourg, having received a CSSF Green Light Letter in July 2025.
• Neither dtcpay nor SBI Group has disclosed how the $25 million is allocated between merchant-network growth and the compliance overhead of running a Singapore license and an EU license application at the same time — a gap this desk flags rather than fills with a number.
• The stated use of funds — a revamped enterprise business portal and merchant-network expansion — positions dtcpay's stablecoin rails as B2B payment infrastructure, with its existing Visa stablecoin-to-fiat card partnership serving as a ready fiat off-ramp.

Singapore-based dtcpay closed a $25 million Series A on September 18, 2026, with Japan's SBI Group investing through two separate vehicles alongside Genedant Capital and existing backer Kwee Liong Tek, The Block reported. The round is dtcpay's second tranche of the year — Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India led an initial close in April — and follows a $16.5 million pre-Series A in June 2023. The headline is less the dollar figure than who is writing the check: a regulated Japanese financial conglomerate backing a Monetary Authority of Singapore-licensed stablecoin payments operator, not a token issuer.

Why a licensed rail, not a wallet

dtcpay is not a stablecoin issuer; it holds a Major Payment Institution license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore under the Payment Services Act, per MAS's own Financial Institutions Directory listing, covering digital payment token and other payment services. That license is the product: it lets dtcpay's business portal let merchants accept, hold and settle in stablecoins without each merchant separately clearing MAS's bar. The capital funds a revamped version of that portal for enterprise clients — the infrastructure layer that turns a regulatory license into a sellable service, rather than consumer-facing token speculation.

The two-vehicle SBI structure

SBI Group did not write a single check; it invested through SBI Ventures Asset Pte Ltd and the SBI-NTU-Kyobo Digital Innovation Fund, two distinct mandates under one conglomerate. Splitting exposure across a direct venture vehicle and a dedicated digital-innovation fund lets SBI size a bet on regulated stablecoin infrastructure without concentrating it on one balance sheet or one investment committee's risk appetite — a structure more common among strategic financial-institution investors than pure VCs, and one worth watching if SBI adds further Asian payments-infrastructure positions.

An unstated cost: two licenses, two regulators

The announced use of funds — merchant network growth, a new business portal, consumer app features — is ordinary scaling language. But dtcpay is simultaneously pursuing an Electronic Money Institution license in Luxembourg, where it received a Green Light Letter from the CSSF in July 2025. Running a Singapore MPI license and an EU EMI application in parallel typically means duplicated compliance, reporting and capital-adequacy obligations across two regulators with different rulebooks. Neither dtcpay nor SBI Group has said how much of the $25 million, if any, covers that overhead rather than merchant acquisition — a line item this desk could not confirm and did not see disclosed.

What to watch

The near-term signal is whether dtcpay's enterprise portal converts into disclosed merchant volume or transaction figures — none were given in the announcement. The medium-term signal is the Luxembourg EMI outcome: a granted license would give dtcpay a second regulated base to run stablecoin settlement from, a template other Singapore-licensed payment firms eyeing EU expansion will watch. Neither dtcpay nor SBI Group disclosed a post-money valuation for the round, and The Block did not report one.