Hard Yaka leads Universal Ledger’s $10M round for ID-first digital wallet

South Carolina-based Universal Ledger, which has emerged from stealth mode, has closed a $10 million round to launch a digital wallet platform. The blockchain-based project aims to promote global access to U.S. dollar-backed assets within an identity-first, compliant and transparent platform.

Hard Yaka, a venture firm focusing on digital identity, fintech and web3, led. Founded by Greg Kidd, Hard Yaka has invested in 200 companies, including Coinbase, Ripple, Robinhood and Protocol Labs.

“The Universal Ledger heralds the day when anyone with a baseline identity can hold, send, and receive dollars safely and compliantly,” says Kidd. He is a former chief risk officer at the aforementioned Ripple. “Site and app developers can utilize Universal Ledger’s APIs to include balance payment functions in their offerings while minimizing their regulatory burden because risk and compliance controls are built directly into the ledger itself rather than maintained at the client or wallet level.”

The wallet-as-a-service provides developers and engineers with an API architecture to build wallets that facilitate global, real-time transfers of assets while meeting international compliance standards and local identity requirements.

It will be a licensed digital asset custodian, which ensures compliance with multiple jurisdictional regulatory environments. The platform will create and manage a digital token so that developers can build knowing the asset is fully backed against the American dollar.

Kirk Chapman, chief executive for Universal Ledge, has experience in payments, banking and fintech industries. He has served as head of strategy at Galileo and advisor to the CEO of SoFi.

Indicio recently received $3.5 million in funding led by Hard Yaka. The money will be used to promote adoption of its decentralized digital ID tech in finance, healthcare and travel.

Article Topics

API  |  blockchain  |  digital ID  |  digital wallets  |  funding  |  startup  |  Universal Ledger'