Augustus, formerly known as Ivy, raises $180 million in a Series B funding round to develop a clearing bank infrastructure for the stablecoin and AI payments era. The company, which has been valued at about $1 billion, says it is working to replace parts of legacy correspondent banking with “always-on” infrastructure. Augustus’ approach focuses on connecting traditional payment rails with stablecoin networks by providing financial institutions with direct access to dollar accounts and payment routes. The company describes its offering as using a federally chartered bank structure to enable access to dollar accounts globally. Multiple outlets report that the fresh funding is intended to expand and continue serving fintechs and banks, with an emphasis on international markets including Latin America and Southeast Asia. The reports frame the effort as an infrastructure buildout designed to support smoother cross-border payments and integration between regulated dollar systems and stablecoin-based activity. The funding round and infrastructure plans are presented as part of Augustus’ effort to scale its platform for institutional participants rather than end users.