Former a16z Crypto Investor Raises $10 Million to Build Stablecoin Clearinghouse
Better Money Company , a stablecoin clearinghouse founded by former a16z crypto investor Sam Broner and former Latham & Watkins and Eigen Labs general counsel Adam Zuckerman , has raised a $10 million seed round led by a16z crypto, the company announced on March 31, 2026. The startup, founded in November 2025, plans to open its clearinghouse to customers within the coming weeks, positioning itself as a centralized venue for cheaply exchanging different dollar backed stablecoins without routing trades through open markets. [1] A Clearinghouse Model for Dollar Pegged Tokens The core mechanism of Better Money Company operates differently from conventional stablecoin trading venues. Rather than matching buyers and sellers on an open exchange, the company creates direct accounts with multiple stablecoin issuers. This arrangement lets clients place orders for new tokens at issuance level economics, bypassing the spreads and fees typical of secondary market transactions. The result, according to the founders, is a meaningfully cheaper pathway for institutions and individuals that need to move between stablecoin variants at scale. The company has framed its scope explicitly around regulatory compliance. It supports any token that qualifies under the GENIUS Act , the recently enacted U.S. legislation establishing a federal framework for stablecoin issuers. That framing has a direct consequence for token selection: USDT , issued by Tether and the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, is excluded because it does not meet GENIUS Act standards. USAT , Tether's separately incorporated, U.S. regulated token, is included. The distinction reflects a deliberate bet that the American regulatory perimeter will define the next generation of institutional stablecoin adoption. "The mission is making stablecoins better money," said co founder Adam Zuckerman. Founder Backgrounds and Investor Conviction Broner spent more than two years as an investor at a16z crypto, where he developed a concentrated focus on stablecoin infrastructure. During that period he backed companies including Zar , a stablecoin based remittance startup, as well as portfolio companies from a16z crypto's accelerator program. Before entering venture capital, Broner worked as a software developer at GE and Microsoft , giving him a foundation in systems level engineering before pivoting to financial infrastructure investing. Zuckerman, Broner's college friend from their undergraduate years in Massachusetts, arrived with a different but complementary resume. He practiced law at Latham & Watkins before moving in house to serve as general counsel at Eigen Labs , the crypto infrastructure company. His legal background is directly relevant to a business whose entire product scope is defined by regulatory compliance standards. "He very quickly became our stablecoin expert and taught us a lot about stablecoins. So primarily, it's an investment in him, and that tends to be usually the way that we underwrite early stage investments," said Ali Yahya , general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, on the decision to back Broner. The seed round attracted BoxGroup and Sunflower Capital alongside a16z crypto as institutional participants. Angel investors include Sean Neville , co founder of Circle , the company behind the USDC stablecoin, and Charlie Songhurst , a former Microsoft executive. The presence of Neville in particular signals credibility within the stablecoin issuer community, given Circle's central role in dollar pegged token infrastructure. Issuer Commitments and Early Traction Since founding in November 2025, Better Money Company has secured commitments from three stablecoin issuers to participate in its clearinghouse network. Paxos , issuer of the USDP stablecoin and a long standing regulated issuer in the U.S. market, has signed on. Bridge , the stablecoin payments infrastructure company acquired by Stripe in 2024, has also committed. MoonPay , a crypto payments company with a broad retail and institutional user base, rounds out the disclosed issuer set. The founders indicated that additional issuers beyond these three have also made commitments, though names were not disclosed. The clearinghouse's value proposition for issuers mirrors what it offers end users: by channeling order flow through direct issuer relationships rather than secondary markets, both sides of the transaction avoid the friction costs associated with open market intermediation. For issuers, direct placement of new supply creates a more predictable distribution channel. For clearinghouse users, the cost savings compound with volume. | Detail | Value | | | | | Seed Round | $10 million | | Lead Investor | a16z crypto | | Founders | Sam Broner (ex a16z), Adam Zuckerman (ex Latham/Eigen) | | Key Angels | Sean Neville (Circle co founder), Charlie Songhurst (ex Microsoft) | | Issuers Committed | Paxos, Bridge (Stripe), MoonPay | | Excluded Token | USDT (not GENIUS Act compliant) | | Included Token | USAT, any GENIUS Act compliant token | | Founded | November 2025 | | Public Launch | Coming weeks | The GENIUS Act as Product Architecture The decision to anchor the clearinghouse's token eligibility to GENIUS Act compliance is both a regulatory and competitive choice. The Act, which President Trump signed into law in early 2026, establishes reserve requirements, audit standards, and licensing rules for stablecoin issuers operating in U.S. markets. By building GENIUS Act compliance into the product's core architecture, Better Money Company is effectively betting that institutional capital flows will gravitate toward compliant tokens as enforcement of the new law matures. Broner articulated the scale argument for aggregation: "If you want to have a growing stablecoin ecosystem, you need to have one place to access the breadth of what's out there." [1] The clearinghouse model is a direct response to the fragmentation that has characterized the stablecoin market, where USDC, USDP, USDG…