London-based stablecoin challenger bank COCA has officially joined the three comma club. Following a significant price increase, the $COCA token has surpassed the $1.50 threshold and the project’s fully diluted valuation (FDV) has exceeded $1 billion.
This milestone marks a pivotal moment for the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, showing a shift in investor interest towards platforms that bridge the gap between stablecoins and everyday retail banking.
Fundamentals over speculation
While many crypto valuations are driven by hype, COCA’s rise to unicorn status appears to be backed by positive growth metrics. According to the company’s latest announcement, this valuation reflects a surge in real-world usage, not just market speculation.
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The platform reports an annual recurring revenue (ARR) run rate of over $3 million after just nine months of launch. This revenue is primarily generated through payment processing, debit card usage, and core banking operations, and this trajectory is particularly rapid for a non-custodial financial platform.
From niche apps to primary banks
COCA’s rise to a $1 billion valuation is underpinned by growth metrics that far outpace the broader fintech space and signals a major shift in the way retail users interact with digital assets. The platform has successfully transitioned from a niche DeFi tool to a mainstream financial hub, evidenced by an impressive 694% increase in Monthly Active Users (MAU) since mid-2025. This explosion in on-chain activity suggests that COCA has achieved real tenacity, moving beyond speculative retail interests and building a loyal user base that leverages the ecosystem for day-to-day financial operations.
The most compelling evidence of this real-world integration lies in the rapid expansion of card programs. Card issuance has surged more than 250% quarter-on-quarter, highlighting the huge demand for stablecoin liquidity in the physical world. As users around the world move away from the frictions and high fees of legacy banking, COCA’s ability to bridge the gap between non-custodial DeFi and traditional retail commerce positions the platform as the primary financial engine for its members.
This rapid expansion is further evidenced by the company’s strong revenue health, a rarity in an industry often dominated by vaporware. Achieving over $3 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in just 9 months is unusually fast for a crypto-native stack. COCA has demonstrated a sustainable utility-led business model by generating consistent cash flows through payment processing and banking. This financial maturity justifies the company’s emerging unicorn status and proves there is deep-rooted, untapped demand for a non-custodial banking experience that prioritizes both security and seamless execution.
Tokenomics and the “Only Up!” model
The main factor behind the price performance of the $COCA token is its unique utility-driven economic model. “Only Up!” tokenomics introduced in August 2025 encourages long-term holding. Users must stake $COCA to access premium banking features, enhanced rewards, and governance privileges.
To maintain market stability and investor confidence, COCA is committed to a disciplined distribution schedule. No new token distribution is planned until December 1, 2026, and future supply changes will be strictly controlled by the community.
A secure path to mainstream DeFi
COCA distinguishes itself from traditional neobanks by utilizing a completely non-custodial architecture. The platform aims to provide the security of cold wallets and the ease of use of traditional banking apps by leveraging multi-party computation (MPC) security and biometric recovery.
COCA’s transition to unicorn status, which currently has over 1 million users, highlights the maturation of the stablecoin ecosystem, moving from niche trading circles to becoming a primary financial tool for users worldwide.
