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David Marcus has spent much of his career focused on making money movement faster, more accessible and easier to use over the internet. After scaling payments at PayPal and helping lead Libra (Diem) at Facebook, he is now pursuing a more practical version of the same ambition: enabling businesses to embed banking services directly into their products without having to operate as banks.
On Tuesday, Marcus’ Los Angeles-based company Lightspark announced the launch of Grid Global Accounts, an enterprise banking product designed to let platforms offer branded dollar accounts, stablecoin conversion, Visa debit cards and instant foreign-exchange services across more than 65 countries.
Marcus, 53, said global payouts are a major cost for businesses because they require other entities to move money on their behalf and handle associated data. With Grid Global Accounts, he said, businesses can convert that cost structure into revenue while preserving their data because the accounts are self-custodial.
Platforms using Grid Global Accounts will be able to issue their own stablecoins and earn yield on reserves backing those stablecoins, such as Treasurys. The product also allows platforms to earn transaction fees and FX margin.
Lightspark said account holders can convert instantly between dollars, stablecoins and bitcoin within the account without relying on an outside exchange, and that conversion fees will flow to businesses using Grid.
Lightspark said it manages operational and regulatory complexity through a network of partners, including FDIC-insured banks such as Erebor, Cross River Bank and Lead Bank. The partners’ roles include licensing, compliance, card issuance, regulatory reporting and fraud monitoring.
Marcus described Grid as the culmination of work that began years ago, including ideas his team first pursued at Facebook. He said the shift now is driven by a more mature ecosystem, including embedded wallets that allow users to sign up with Google, Apple or passkeys rather than managing crypto keys directly.
He also pointed to regulatory clarity, citing the passage of the stablecoin-focused GENIUS Act in July 2025. Marcus said a growing number of stablecoin-backed debit cards is helping accelerate mainstream adoption of digital dollars.
Lightspark was founded in 2022 to build infrastructure for the Lightning Network, the payments layer built on top of Bitcoin. The company has raised $175 million from investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Paradigm.
Lightspark does not disclose financial results, but it said it now handles “billions” of dollars in payment volume for companies including Tether, Nubank and SoFi.
Lightspark is also positioning Grid Global Accounts for AI agents. The company said Grid will enable account holders to create auditable operating “pockets” for agents, with constraints such as spending limits, approved payees, approval thresholds and instant revocation.
Marcus said the interfaces built for “clumsy humans” are likely to be replaced by interfaces for agents, and that the challenge is providing a user experience that works for both humans and agents safely and efficiently.
Lightspark is entering a crowded market. Competitors pursuing parts of the same opportunity include San Francisco-based Bridge, the stablecoin infrastructure platform acquired by Stripe last year, and Circle, a stablecoin company that has expanded offerings for businesses with programmable wallets and other infrastructure tools.
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