Tether has led a $7 million Series A funding round for Pact Labs, a financial infrastructure company, aiming to broaden the use of its US-regulation-compliant digital dollar, USAT, in payroll payments and everyday financial transactions.
Tether, the largest company in the digital asset ecosystem, announced that it led Pact Labs’ $7 million Series A round to expand the use cases of USAT, its US-regulation-compliant digital dollar. The round, which also included participation from Blockchange Ventures and Lasagna, will support Pact Labs’ efforts to develop its infrastructure for payroll payments, earned wage access, credit services, and everyday payments.
With this investment, Tether aims to integrate USAT directly into the financial systems used by American workers and businesses. Through the infrastructure developed by Pact Labs, companies will be able to integrate digital wallets into their systems, process payroll payments in real time, and eliminate the delays caused by traditional payment systems.
Digital transformation targeted in payroll payments
Although the US payroll system generates more than $11 trillion in transaction volume annually, much of its underlying infrastructure relies on systems developed decades ago. As a result, employees can be forced to wait days or even weeks to access wages they have already earned. The delays between pay periods can lead to additional account fees, short-term borrowing, and other financial costs.
According to Tether, USAT—backed by Pact Labs’ infrastructure—will allow employees to access their wages faster, while enabling employers and financial platforms to operate around the clock without interruption. In this way, digital dollar technology is expected to become a natural part of users’ everyday financial experience.
“One of the most important use cases for the digital dollar is payroll”
Commenting on the matter, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said: “Our transaction data has shown the same reality for years — a significant portion of the demand for dollar-based payment infrastructure comes from payroll. In emerging markets, workers have long turned to USDT to overcome delays in wage payments caused by inadequate local payment systems. Now we’re bringing that same approach to the US market with USAT. Because even when a system technically works, if it operates on batch-processing logic, it’s low-income workers who bear the cost the most.”
Tether USAT CEO Bo Hines added: “USAT was built for real people, and payroll is one of the clearest examples of that. Thanks to Pact Labs, we now have the infrastructure to deliver a US-regulation-compliant digital dollar to millions of American workers — faster, at lower cost, and without the need for intermediaries.”
Everyday use cases for the digital dollar are expanding
The investment forms part of Tether’s broader strategy of backing infrastructure that supports the wider adoption of the digital dollar in financial processes heavily used in daily life. As payroll remains one of the largest transaction segments within the US financial system, stablecoin technology is expected to transform the way people receive, store, and use their money.
