- First Digital Group, issuer of the FDUSD stablecoin, agreed on October 6, 2026 to merge with CSLM Digital Asset Acquisition Corp III, a Nasdaq-listed SPAC trading under ticker KOYN
- The deal values First Digital at a $250 million pre-money valuation and would make the combined company a Nasdaq-listed public entity
- First Digital said FDUSD has processed $4.7 trillion in cumulative trading volume as of June 30, 2026, with the stablecoin fully backed by US Treasury bills and cash equivalents
CSLM Digital Asset Acquisition Corp III, Ltd disclosed in an 8-K filed with the SEC on October 6, 2026 that it has entered into a business combination agreement with First Digital Group Limited, the Gibraltar-based company behind the FDUSD stablecoin, in a deal intended to take First Digital public on Nasdaq.
The agreement values First Digital at a $250 million pre-money valuation, subject to adjustment, and contemplates a three-step process in which First Digital re-domiciles to the Cayman Islands before merging into what will become the combined public company. First Digital’s founder, Vincent Chok, will receive Class B shares with additional earn-out provisions, while other shareholders exchange their holdings for Class A or Class B shares in the new entity.
First Digital said FDUSD has processed $4.7 trillion in cumulative trading volume as of June 30, 2026, after peaking at $4.4 billion in circulation in April 2024, and that the stablecoin remains fully backed by US Treasury bills and cash equivalents verified through monthly independent attestations. The company reported $87 million in revenue for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, and said it plans to open a South Korea office in the first quarter of 2027 as part of its broader expansion.
“A Nasdaq listing would give us access to public capital markets, the transparency of a listed company, and shareholders who can participate in building it with us,” First Digital CEO Vincent Chok said in the announcement. KOYN chairman Vik Mittal added that “programmable money collapses the world’s payment networks into one global dollar network,” framing the deal as a bet on stablecoins becoming core payments infrastructure rather than a niche trading instrument confined to crypto exchanges.
The transaction remains subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, as well as Nasdaq listing requirements, with the companies targeting a closing in the first half of 2027. Beyond FDUSD, First Digital’s Finance District ecosystem includes four live products, District Pass, Agent Wallet, Prism and an AI assistant, with the company also disclosing a proposed $25 million convertible note from Millennial Trading Limited as part of the transaction’s financing.
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