BeInCrypto 100 Institutional Awards Nomination: KAST for Best Digital Assets Neobank and Best Digital Assets Fintech

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Stablecoins are starting to look less like a crypto trading tool and more like financial infrastructure for people who earn, spend, and move money across borders. KAST is building directly around that shift. The firm is nominated for Best Digital Assets Neobank and Best Digital Assets Fintech at the BeInCrypto Institutional 100 Awards 2026. The nomination reflects KAST’s efforts to build a consumer and business finance platform around stablecoin rails from the start. The company serves users across 170+ countries, integrates a real-time cross-border settlement layer with Fedwire and SWIFT, offers cards accepted at 150 million merchants, and supports USD accounts, global payouts, card spending, and yield products from a single app. In March 2026, KAST raised $80 million in Series A funding, co-led by QED Investors and Left Lane Capital, with Peak XV Partners, HSG, and DST Global Partners also participating. The company said it had crossed 1 million users and reached about $5 billion in annualized transaction volume. Built Around Stablecoins From Day One KAST’s nomination for Best Digital Assets Neobank centers on its stablecoin-native account model. Most neobanks began with traditional banking rails and later added crypto features. KAST started with stablecoins as the operating layer. The account balance, cross-border movement, card spend, and yield products are all built around digital dollars. In a nomination interview with BeInCrypto, Founder and CEO Raagulan Pathy described the difference. “The first generation of neobanks did a great job giving a slick interface, but they still operated within the traditional financial system. Being stablecoin native, we can be in 150-plus countries very early. That’s what we’ve done from day one,” Pathy said. That architecture gives KAST its global reach. Users can hold USD, spend through Visa card products, move funds across borders, and access stablecoin-based yield without relying on a traditional bank account in their country of residence. KAST also emphasizes institutional-grade security. Its website says the platform partners with Fireblocks, BitGo, and enterprise security providers for asset protection, while financial services are provided through licensed and regulated partners. Turning Stablecoin Rails Into Fintech Infrastructure The second nomination, Best Digital Assets Fintech, reflects KAST’s wider product buildout. KAST Earn allows users to put idle USD to work through vault products. Its Gauntlet Alpha Vault deploys funds across DeFi strategies managed by Gauntlet, while the USD Prime Vault uses USDKY, a stablecoin backed by short-term US Treasury bills through M0. KAST says users can withdraw without lockups, with returns reflected in the value of their vault balance. Pathy framed trust as central to the business model. “Financial services is ultimately a trust game. Users will use you more if they trust you. It’s not always about being the absolute cheapest; it’s about being the safest and the best,” he said. KAST is also moving into business finance. KAST Business is designed for global teams, founders, agencies, and operators who need payouts, payroll, virtual cards, and cross-border spending in a single platform. The company says it is opening access in phases and reviewing applications manually. That expands KAST beyond a consumer card product. It gives the company a path into stablecoin payroll, contractor payments, business spending, and embedded financial services. The BeInCrypto Institutional 100 Awards recognize firms building the systems that could define the next phase of digital finance. KAST’s nomination reflects its role in turning stablecoins into a usable banking-like experience for consumers and a financial infrastructure layer for global businesses.

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