Ripple is backing the cross-chain layer that already moved $6B in crypto

@squidrouter has closed a $6M strategic funding round, adding a notable backer in @Ripple as it pushes deeper into cross-chain infrastructure. North Island Ventures led the round, with Ripple, Dialectic, and Borderless also participating. The raise brings total funding to $13.5M, following a $3.5M seed round in 2023 and a $4M strategic round in 2024.

Scale That Backs the Raise

Since launching in January 2023, Squid has routed over $6 billion in volume through more than 4 million transactions, serving over one million users. Its execution layer, Squid Intents, uses market makers to fill cross-chain transactions and settles them through trusted execution environments rather than requiring smart contract deployments on every chain, an architecture that lets the platform support more than 100 networks. The platform currently integrates with over 1,000 applications, including popular wallets and DeFi services.

Angel investors including Axelar co-founder Georgios Vlachos, Enso Finance founder Connor Howe, and Constructive founder Dan Lynch also joined the round. North Island Ventures has been with the project from the start. "Squid has demonstrated that cross-chain infrastructure can generate real revenue from real usage, and that the team can ship consistently across market cycles," said Travis Scher, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at North Island Ventures.

Why Ripple's Participation Matters

Squid supports the XRP Ledger as one of its integrated chains, sitting alongside major ecosystems like Ethereum, Solana, Bitcoin, Stellar, and Cosmos. The protocol also runs a validator on the XRP Ledger and serves as its official bridge partner. For Ripple, backing a cross-chain router that makes XRPL more accessible to the broader crypto ecosystem aligns with the company's long-standing push for interoperability.

The fresh capital is set to fund more than just maintenance. The funding will accelerate Squid's expansion into consumer products that make accessing and managing digital assets across blockchains simple enough that users never need to think about the infrastructure underneath. The new funds will also support the introduction of transaction fees as a revenue stream, marking a shift from free routing. Doing so with $6B in historical volume and 1 million users as a foundation gives Squid more leverage than most protocols attempting the same playbook.

Sources:
Squid official press release via PR Newswire
The Block: Ripple, North Island Ventures back $6M round for Squid
Crypto.news: Ripple backs Squid's $6M cross-chain round