Stablecoin startup Atticus nears $2 billion valuation following raise led by defense-tech firm CEO: report

Palmer Luckey, the co-founder and CEO of the defense-tech firm Anduril, is set to lead fresh financing for the stablecoin startup Atticus, which is currently in stealth mode, Axios reports citing numerous sources. 

Atticus was founded by Owen Rapaport — who previously launched the digital asset management and securities trading compliance firm Aer Compliance — and Jacob Hirschman, formerly Circle's special counsel of products and regulatory affairs and current advisor to the firm.

The crypto-focused venture capital firm Haun Ventures is already a backer, and this latest funding round could potentially net Atticus a valuation of between $1.5 billion and $2 billion. That could potentially make it this year's first stablecoin unicorn, according to Axios. The startup does not currently have a website or accessible social media pages. 

The Block reached out to Anduril and Haun Ventures for comment. 

Atticus's potential unicorn status emerges amid broader interest in stablecoins — from  legislators  who want to regulate them,  banks  that aim to integrate or launch them, and  businesses that seek to pay with them. 

On-chain volume for Ethereum stablecoins has surpassed $1 trillion each month since February of this year, with May most recently bringing in $1.35 billion in on-chain volume, The Block's Data Dashboard shows. 

In March of this year, Haun Ventures sought to raise $1 billion to invest in early- to late-stage blockchain startups.