Stablecoin Company Rain Acquires Onchain Rewards Platform Uptop
Stablecoin payment infrastructure company Rain has acquired on-chain rewards platform Uptop.
The acquisition is designed to accelerate Rain’s effort to deliver “a complete, vertically integrated stack,” the company said in a Wednesday (Nov. 12) news release.
This solution includes on-ramps, wallets, cards that work anyplace Visa is accepted, off-ramps and payouts, and native rewards, letting enterprises launch and scale branded card and wallet programs with a single partner, Rain added.
“We’re building end-to-end, stablecoin-native infrastructure so our clients don’t have to stitch it together,” said Farooq Malik, Rain’s co-founder and CEO.
“By integrating rewards, Rain continues to lead the stablecoin industry as a comprehensive platform that lets partners go live and scale fast, all while keeping the consumer experience simple. With Rain and Uptop, any partner will be able to offer branded cards with built-in rewards, or launch a Starbucks-style wallet and rewards program that drives loyalty.”
According to the release, Uptop’s rewards program customers include sports teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons, and as well as the program for LSU Athletics. In addition to sports, Uptop powers the Empire State Building’s Ambassador Program, and will now expand into new categories including retail, entertainment, dining and travel.
“We built Uptop so linking a card is all it takes for people to feel closer to the brands and teams they love,” said John Timoney, Uptop’s co-founder. “As part of Rain, we can bring that simplicity to more cardholders globally, with onchain infrastructure that’s invisible to the user.”
PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster spoke with Rain’s Malik earlier this year following the company’s $58 million Series B funding round.
He said that while stablecoins are often framed as a new front-end payment method, their core unlock is about weaving money movement and reconciliation into one digital packet.
It’s “the holy grail of money since the beginning of time,” Malik said, not because settlement is difficult, but because the costly aspect is determining what funds moved, why, and for whom.
“Transacting is simple sometimes,” he added, but ensuring it “flows into your financial statements,” is “audit ready,” and “GAAP compliant” is “enormously complicated.”
This is why the current wave of stablecoin innovation is less about launching consumer-facing apps and more about embedding stablecoins into existing networks.
“Payment service providers can maintain the merchant experience while cutting costs in their own operations,” PYMNTS wrote. “Banks can use tokenized dollars to balance intraday liquidity. Multinationals can reduce friction in intercompany transfers.”
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