crypto-banking
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The Ex-Coinbase Custody Boss Wants Your Business Bank Account to Run on Stablecoins
Dakota looks like a normal business bank account. Underneath, your dollars are stablecoins backed by Treasuries you actually control - and that quiet swap is the whole pitch.
Juno
Juno (formerly OnJuno) is a crypto-friendly banking platform that lets users in the US hold cash and crypto in one account, receive paychecks in stablecoins, and on-ramp to 20+ blockchain networks without withdrawal holds. Founded by Varun Deshpande, Ratnesh Ray, and Siddharth Verma, the company raised an $18M Series A in 2022 led by ParaFi Capital.
Lead Bank
Lead Bank is a state-chartered, FDIC-insured commercial bank turned API-first Banking-as-a-Service platform. Acquired in 2022 by an investor group led by former Square Capital chief Jackie Reses, the 1928-vintage Missouri community bank now provides regulated banking infrastructure - payments, card issuing, lending, and deposit accounts - to fintechs, consumer brands, and digital-asset companies.
Ratnesh Ray
Ratnesh Ray is the Co-Founder and CTO of Juno, a crypto-native banking platform headquartered in San Francisco that lets users receive salaries directly in cryptocurrency via FDIC-insured accounts. A serial entrepreneur from Bengaluru, Ray previously co-founded BeeWise (acquired by Aditya Birla Money in 2017) and Nuo Network, a ConsenSys-backed DeFi lending protocol. At Juno, he leads technical architecture for a platform that has raised $24M in funding, including an $18M Series A led by ParaFi Capital in 2022, and serves over 75,000 U.S. customers.
Varun Deshpande
Varun Deshpande is the co-founder and CEO of Juno, a San Francisco-based crypto-native digital banking platform that bridges traditional finance and decentralized finance for the US market. A serial entrepreneur from BITS Pilani, he previously co-founded BeeWise (acquired by Aditya Birla Money), Nuo Network (a DeFi lending protocol), and TopTalent.in. With Juno, he has raised $24M across seed and Series A rounds from top-tier investors including Sequoia Surge, Polychain, ParaFi Capital, and Jump Crypto, building a platform that lets users earn, spend, and manage crypto alongside traditional banking.