Summary
Crypto yield curator Gauntlet raised $125M in a Series C funding round with SBI Holdings as the sole investor through its US subsidiary. The company curates $1.5B+ in assets across its vaults and works with 150+ fintechs and institutions. Gauntlet plans to expand stablecoin coverage beyond USD and EUR to include MXN, JPY, and other fiat-backed stablecoins, launch new onchain offerings, and grow its global team with AI-supported operations. CEO Tarun Chitra expects tokenization and vaults to grow the DeFi market faster than overall stablecoin growth. SBI's investment follows its $76M lead in EDX Markets' Series C earlier the same week.
Key Facts
- Series C: $125M, sole investor SBI Holdings (via SBI Holdings USA)
- Last valuation: $1B (2022 Series B led by Ribbit Capital)
- Assets curated: $1.5B+ across vaults
- Clients: 150+ fintechs and institutions
- Expansion: MXN, JPY, and other fiat-backed stablecoins beyond USD/EUR
- Founded 2018 as blockchain analytics, pivoted to vault curation
- SBI also investing in JPYSC yen stablecoin and EDX Markets
Why It Matters
Gauntlet's raise signals that institutional capital is flowing into the infrastructure layer of DeFi rather than speculative assets. The vault model — where institutions deploy capital onchain with automated risk management — mirrors the ETF revolution in traditional markets. SBI's dual investments in EDX (trading infrastructure) and Gauntlet (yield infrastructure) show a coordinated bet on the full institutional onchain stack.