Monad Foundation to bring payment solution to Monad by acquiring stablecoin infrastructure developer Portal Labs

Monad Foundation, the independent organization overseeing the development of the Layer 1 blockchain network Monad, will acquire the stablecoin infrastructure developer Portal Labs.

The move brings a full-stack payment solution to Monad in addition to integrating Monad's blockchain tech into Portal's multi-chain strategy, according to a Wednesday release. Following the acquisition, Portal co-founder and CEO Raj Parekh will also join the Monad Foundation as Head of Payments and Stablecoins. Portal will operate under the Monad Foundation as a subsidiary.

Portal Labs builds out infrastructure, such as software development kits and APIs, enabling developers to more easily implement stablecoin payment infrastructure into their products. Portal supports over 100 blockchains, including Solana, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and networks compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine, according to the platform's website.

"Portal was built to lower the barrier for anyone to move money onchain. The complementary visions of Portal and the Monad Foundation will scale that mission faster," Parekh said in the release.

The Monad Foundation's acquisition of Portal Labs follows other notable stablecoin M&A moves, such as crypto payment firm MoonPay acquiring Iron for at least $100 million in March and Stripe buying the stablecoin platform Bridge for around $1.1 billion in October 2024. Stablecoin interest rose more broadly in 2025, with Big Tech firms, high-profile banks, and retail giants alike eyeing their use cases.

"Payments are a killer use case for blockchains and present an exciting unlock for widespread crypto adoption," said Monad Foundation co-founder and general manager Keone Hon in a statement. "Portal’s production-grade stablecoin rails will provide enterprises and developers with plug-and-play solutions to incorporate stablecoin payments into their platforms and apps."

The Block reached out to Monad Labs for additional comment.

Monad claims to be 1,000 times faster than Ethereum by using both parallel and asynchronous execution. The Layer 1 network's testnet launched in February, with its mainnet expected to go live later in 2025, The Block previously reported.