According to online reports, according to people familiar with the matter, Gulf Bank of Singapore is seeking to raise at least US$50 million in a round of financing and plans to acquire a stablecoin payment company next year. The start-up bank, founded by the Singapore family office Whampoa Group, has been licensed in Bahrain since February and is in talks to sell less than 10 percent of its stake by early 2025 with Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds and other investors, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter was conducted privately. The funds raised will be mainly used to accelerate product development, enhance the bank's payment network and recruit more employees; the bank plans to acquire a stablecoin payment company in the Middle East or Europe in the first quarter.