Senior Software Development Engineer in Test

Tala's USDC credit plan signals a new era for blockchain-based lending. Tala has announced plans to launch KES 6.7 bn in credit through USDC, a dollar-backed stable coin, marking a major step into blockchain-based lending. The initiative blends Tala's established digital lending model with decentralized finance infrastructure, allowing credit to be issued and managed on the blockchain. By using a stable coin pegged to the US dollar, Tala aims to reduce currency volatility while improving efficiency, transparency, and access to global capital. The primary target market for this initiative is underbanked individuals in emerging markets, particularly borrowers who lack access to traditional banking services or formal credit histories. These include small business owners, informal workers, and digitally active individuals who rely on mobile money and alternative financial platforms. Tala's data-driven credit scoring system allows it to assess borrowers beyond conventional metrics, making blockchain lending accessible to populations often excluded from the formal financial system. For Tala, the shift to USDC-based lending offers several strategic benefits. It enables the company to tap into international liquidity pools rather than depending solely on local funding sources, which are often limited and expensive. Blockchain infrastructure also improves operational efficiency by automating loan issuance, repayments, and tracking. In addition, tokenized lending creates opportunities for scalability, portfolio diversification, and improved risk management, strengthening Tala's long-term sustainability. Borrowers stand to gain from faster loan disbursement, reduced transaction costs, and greater transparency. Since USDC transactions settle quickly on the blockchain, borrowers may experience shorter waiting periods compared to traditional lending channels. The use of alternative credit assessment models also lowers entry barriers, enabling more people to access credit even without formal banking records. For lenders and investors, the model introduces a new asset class backed by real-world loan performance. Blockchain records provide clear visibility into loan behavior, enhancing trust and risk evaluation. Investors can participate in lending markets with improved liquidity and transparency, while spreading risk across diversified borrower pools.

Tala partners with Huma to launch tokenized lending on Solana. Tala will deploy $50M credit facility in USDC to power blockchain-enabled, permissionless lending for millions of global customers. Tala, the financial infrastructure company building the world's most accessible financial services, today announced the launch of its tokenized lending platform for the global underbanked. Powered by Solana and supported with USDC liquidity facilitated by the Huma Protocol through a partnership between Tala and Huma Finance, the new platform is the first to bring trustless, AI-underwritten consumer lending to underserved borrowers at global scale. For billions of consumers that lack access to traditional banking services and credit history systems, tokenized lending offers faster and more reliable access to credit, better rates through a global capital network, and a portable, digital reputation that enables broader participation in the global economy. Tala's existing customer base of nearly 13 million across multiple emerging markets creates immediate scale for blockchain adoption. "After a decade operating across multiple emerging markets, we know how to translate frontier technologies into real-world financial power," said Shivani Siroya, founder and CEO, Tala. "By pairing Tala's trusted platform with the power of blockchain technology, together with Huma and Solana, we can expand financial access, eliminate systemic inefficiencies, and help millions become active participants in the global digital economy." The solution is powered by Tala's proprietary credit engine, which has been trained on $7 billion in lending performance data across multiple continents. That dataset - largely invisible to banks and most AI systems - gives Tala the ability to evaluate borrowers who have historically been overlooked by the global financial system. By tokenizing these loans in an overcollateralized lending facility and connecting them to Huma's liquidity pools, Tala unlocks a new funding mechanism for emerging market credit, bringing global capital directly to high-demand markets in a transparent and efficient way. "Tala's team has over a decade of experience in scaling high performance lending programs while providing financial access to tens of millions of people that need it the most." said Erbil Karaman, Co-Founder of Huma Finance. "Unlike past attempts in the industry, this partnership sets a new standard for overcollateralized, data-driven, fully-digital, tokenized lending that is liquid from day one. Together we are delivering on the promise of crypto - an open and efficient global financial system for all." Huma Finance specializes in compliant, transparent, onchain payments finance infrastructure, connecting high performance digital assets to more than 100,000 liquidity providers globally. Huma Finance's stablecoin-based payments finance protocol offers programmable lending and repayment rails, risk controls, and real-time portfolio visibility. The collaboration with Tala will tokenize loan assets and move key processes such as disbursement and repayment onchain for transparency, lower costs, and global liquidity access. The launch establishes Tala as one of the largest global on-ramps for non-crypto-native users in emerging markets, instantly introducing millions of new consumers to the global blockchain ecosystem through everyday financial activity. For liquidity providers, tokenized lending introduces a new class of real-world assets backed by real repayment behavior, verified onchain. Tokenization also allows lenders to sell tokens that represent future cash flows, fractionalize risk to reach more investors, and automate key processes through smart contracts, improving transparency, efficiency, and balance sheet management. "Solana's vision for internet capital markets is to make finance accessible globally and at scale," said Maya Caddle, Payments Lead at Solana Foundation. "Tala's decision to bring its credit and payments products to Solana shows how onchain markets can expand access to financial services in emerging markets." The company's onchain lending model will extend to other networks next year, creating an even broader scale for cross-border transactions and stablecoin use cases. About Tala Tala is a financial infrastructure company using proprietary data and AI to build some of the world's most accessible financial services. Nearly 13 million people have used Tala's app to access credit and make payments. With a presence across multiple emerging markets and backed by more than $500M from leading global investors, Tala is unlocking the economic power of the global majority. About Huma Finance Huma Finance is the first PayFi network, accelerating global payments with instant access to stablecoin liquidity. Processing more than $8 billion in transactions, Huma's network is transforming how money moves globally. Users can learn more at huma.finance. Director of Communications Makiyah Ruggieri-Vesey Tala [email protected]