Tether leads $7M round into Pact Labs to build payroll infrastructure on Aptos
The investment aims to wire USA₮, Tether's US-regulated stablecoin, into payroll and lending systems through on-chain infrastructure that has already processed nearly $2B in loans.
Pact Labs just landed $7 million in Series A funding led by Tether, and the money has a very specific job: build the pipes that connect a regulated stablecoin to the mundane but massive world of payroll and payments.
The round, announced on July 14, is designed to accelerate Pact Labs’ integration of USA₮, Tether’s US-regulated dollar-backed stablecoin, into a broader suite of financial tools. Think earned wage access, credit products, and payment rails, all running on the Aptos blockchain.
What Pact Labs actually does
Pact Labs operates the PACT Protocol, an on-chain lending and securitization platform that takes traditional lending processes, like issuing a loan and then packaging that loan for investors, and runs them on a blockchain instead of through legacy banking software.
PACT Protocol has facilitated nearly $2 billion in on-chain loans, serving roughly 500,000 users through seven fintech partners.
The $7 million from Tether will fund development of wallet infrastructure, data tools, payment systems, and smart contracts that bridge the PACT Protocol to fintech platforms.
Why Aptos, and why now
PACT Protocol migrated to the Aptos blockchain on February 20, 2025, following incubation support from the Aptos Foundation. That migration was not a soft launch. Over $1 billion in assets moved from its previous home on Celo to Aptos on the very first day.
Aptos runs on the Move programming language, which was originally developed at Meta for the now-defunct Diem project. The blockchain offers sub-second transaction finality and high throughput.
USA₮ and the regulated stablecoin race
USA₮ is not to be confused with USDT, Tether’s flagship stablecoin that dominates global crypto trading volume. USA₮ launched on January 27, 2026, and was developed through Anchorage Digital Bank, making it a US-regulated product.
Tether’s decision to lead a funding round for infrastructure that specifically supports USA₮ signals that the company views regulated stablecoins as a growth market. By investing in the plumbing that makes USA₮ useful for payroll and credit, Tether is essentially creating demand for its own product.