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About Ready
Ready is a self-custodial on-chain bank built on Base, offering USDC-denominated dollar accounts, global payments, and virtual cards. Users retain full control of their assets via private keys, with no intermediary custody. Its core value proposition is combining self-custody with everyday spending: funds are settled instantly on-chain, while cards enable real-world purchases.
The market pain point it addresses is the reliance on traditional banks for dollar access, which often involves high fees, slow cross-border transfers, and custodial risk. Ready solves this by letting users hold and spend digital dollars directly, with transparent on-chain settlement and lower costs.
In the past six months (Feb-Aug 2026), Ready faced a significant operational setback. In August, its card issuer unexpectedly ceased operations, forcing Ready to suspend card services, particularly affecting users outside the European Economic Area. USDC settlement for card transactions was halted, and unused subscription fees were refunded. This incident highlighted the fragility of relying on third-party card infrastructure, even within a self-custodial framework. Despite the disruption, Ready's core on-chain account functionality remained unaffected, and the team communicated the changes transparently to users.
Argent announced a major update on July 8, 2026, subsequently rebranding as Ready and unveiling its Community Finance vision, aiming to let everyday spending support communities. However, in July 2026, its card issuer Kulipa collapsed due to solvency issues, forcing Ready and other projects like Solflare to suspend card services. This incident highlighted the fragility of self-custodial wallets' reliance on traditional financial infrastructure at the payment layer. Ready stated it will build a more reliable payment solution on new infrastructure. In the long term, the transition from Argent to Ready and the Community Finance positioning mark an evolution from a mere crypto wallet to community-driven financial infrastructure, while the Kulipa event became a critical catalyst for Ready to pursue payment-layer independence.
In the past six months (Mar–Sep 2026), Ready's key progress: in April 2026, it launched USD Prime, offering yield on USDC via onchain vaults from Morpho and Steakhouse (); in June, non-EEA users' USDC card access was restricted after a card provider change (); on July 30, the card program stopped after issuer Kulipa began winding down, while self-custody kept user funds safe ().
In August, the company announced a strategic pivot: no longer building a crypto neobank, but a new category, 'Community Finance.' Going forward, Ready will run on Base, auto-creating a Base self-custodial account for existing users; Community Cards are launching soon, partnering with esports and other communities so everyday spending creates value back to the community and unlocks exclusive rewards. The official roadmap starts with esports partners, then expands to creators and broader communities ().
Itamar Lesuisse (Co-founder & CEO): Previously founded Peak, a mobile brain training platform with 50M+ users, sold to Lagardere. Led product and growth at Amazon, Visa Europe, and BCG.
Julien Niset (Co-founder & CSO): PhD in Physics from Université libre de Bruxelles. Postdoc at City University of New York. Researcher in quantum information and cryptography. Co-founded Argent.
Gerald Goldstein (Co-founder & CTO): Background in engineering and technology leadership. Co-founded Argent, focusing on secure smart contract wallet infrastructure.
Chad West (CMO): Experienced marketing executive. Leads growth and brand strategy at Argent, driving adoption of the decentralized wallet.