VELMVellum Protocol8,420 waitlist KITEKite Ledger2,190 waitlist PLSDPalisade ID1,640 waitlist NRTLNorthlineDay 8 of 14 SABLSable RailDay 5 of 14 QULLQuill MarketsDay 11 of 14 CDWLCinder Well6,947 waitlist HRTNHartline8,787 waitlist OBSNObsidian Rail4,416 waitlist FENLFen Clearing1,060 waitlist LUMNLumen Books5,510 waitlist RDCTRedact ID6,485 waitlist HRBNHarbor NAV6,973 waitlist QLTDQuilt1,876 waitlist NMBMNimbus Match7,864 waitlist BRASBrass4,166 waitlist SLSTSolstice Credit9,342 waitlist WLTRWillow Transfer7,031 waitlist EMBREmber Registry2,487 waitlist NQAYNorth Quay2,013 waitlist KLNSKiln4,412 waitlist GLSHGlass HouseDay 8 of 14 IRNPIron PierDay 1 of 14 PLFRPale FireDay 3 of 14 VELMVellum Protocol8,420 waitlist KITEKite Ledger2,190 waitlist PLSDPalisade ID1,640 waitlist NRTLNorthlineDay 8 of 14 SABLSable RailDay 5 of 14 QULLQuill MarketsDay 11 of 14 CDWLCinder Well6,947 waitlist HRTNHartline8,787 waitlist OBSNObsidian Rail4,416 waitlist FENLFen Clearing1,060 waitlist LUMNLumen Books5,510 waitlist RDCTRedact ID6,485 waitlist HRBNHarbor NAV6,973 waitlist QLTDQuilt1,876 waitlist NMBMNimbus Match7,864 waitlist BRASBrass4,166 waitlist SLSTSolstice Credit9,342 waitlist WLTRWillow Transfer7,031 waitlist EMBREmber Registry2,487 waitlist NQAYNorth Quay2,013 waitlist KLNSKiln4,412 waitlist GLSHGlass HouseDay 8 of 14 IRNPIron PierDay 1 of 14 PLFRPale FireDay 3 of 14

THIZ

In market

HOT WINDOWPayroll rails

Thistle North

a few days until this conversation is history.

Pilots are named and redacted. The waitlist is not. 6,169 people already asked.

Thistle North — A routing layer in front of payment firms that already hold licences. One API picks the rail (SEPA, cards, local schemes) and can present a wallet-like checkout. The wallet is the interface. It is not a coin.

Live campaign. 6,169 on the product waitlist — that is demand, not an allocation.

They unpublish in an hour. They will not wait for your committee to finish reading.

Diligence, not a prospectus. RCA Pad does not allocate, take orders, or close funding. If this company raises, it raises with its own counsel.

Waitlist

Window

Closed

Heat

0/99

Inbound / wk

0asks

Asking now

0live

Named pilots

Redacted on the public page

Live nodes

Payroll adapters

Counsel hours

Nairobi · counsel-named

Sentences killed

Before listing

Claims live

9/13

Build

Our cut

Of any proceeds

Plate Ledger · 7830

THIZ

The plate

Ledger. Edition 7830.

A unique plate for Thistle North. Geometry, orbit, and edition belong to this company — no other listing on the board shares it.

THIZ · Nairobi · Payroll rails

Score

Desk diligence

Pilots

Named, redacted

Waitlist

Product demand

Nairobi

Licensed PSPs

Sells

Scheme-map

Scheme-map licence

Markets

Nairobi

Years

Founded 2026

Surfaces

Payroll adapters

Complete

File readiness

The wedge

Scheme-map licence

Thistle North is betting that Nairobi PSPs will buy routing as software rather than issue a coin.

Why the desk took it

A real job, not a ticker.

The AA layer is on testnet and they said so — no mainnet theatre.

Traction

4 named pilots (redacted).

Founded 2026, headquartered in Nairobi. 4 named pilots on file (identities redacted in public). 6,169 on the waitlist, gated — product demand, not a book built. 8 nodes or connected surfaces reported. Desk diligence score 84/100. A transfer agent willing to consume a revoke in production. Architecture says keys / title / NAV liability sit with a named licensed party — not Thistle North.

Next 12 months

Counsel memo on the AA perimeter, or the UX layer stays dark.

Checkout.com is a processor. This is plumbing for processors. Annual software against an ops cost the board can see. Switching cost is the record, not the brand.

The brief

How a serious reader should hold this.

Nairobi is not a backdrop. It is the jurisdiction where a named customer can be sued, called, and asked a question on a recorded line. Thistle North chose it for that reason. Counterparties who still think this is a ‘global’ story are already late.

What you can verify today is smaller than the slide. What you cannot verify is named as a question, not a promise. That is the difference between this company and a pad listing — and why the waitlist is not a coin queue.

US traffic was taken off the public surfaces in the first working session. Thistle North did not argue. Adult companies do not costume a US offering.

From the pilot

Fixed fee. Deposit to start. 0% of proceeds. Token-only pay is declined. Percentage of raise is declined.

From the screen

US persons are outside the audience. A form that asks “are you accredited?” without verification is not an exemption.

From ops

We will not describe this as Reg CA-compliant, MiCA-stickered, or FCA-authorised. Issuers retain their own counsel in every relevant jurisdiction.

The window

Miss this and you read the archive.

You can read twelve thinner companies. Or this one, once, while the window is open.

Certification is in motion. After it lands, the price of the seat is not the question — access is.

We do not allocate. We do not take a cut. We will not hold the window open for you.

Window

Closed

Closed. History only — not a place to buy.

Sentences killed: 4
Counsel hours on file: 20
Asks / week: 771
Our cut: 0% of proceeds

The auditor has seen the dual-record. Switching now is a new conversation. That is the lock.
Sasha Moreau, Chief executive

This company

Thistle North

Twelve Payroll rails decks look the same. One of them has a Nairobi customer on the record.

In the same conversation

Modulr
Lemonway
Checkout.com routing
Not a L2 payments coin

The bet

Why this company exists.

Thistle North is betting that Nairobi PSPs will buy routing as software rather than issue a coin.

MiCA is forcing PSPs to choose a perimeter. Houses that will not become CASPs still need programmable checkout. The ones that pick software over a coin will buy this. The ones that want a token will be declined here.

PSP orchestration in Europe is a multi-billion software market. Buyers already pay for routing. A token would not make the invoice larger; it would make the licence harder.

Versus the field

A generalist vendor can copy the slide in a quarter. They cannot copy the named record, the scheme map, or the auditor conversation. That is the year they would have to buy.

The live path is Nairobi · counsel-named. Proposed Regulation Crypto Assets is not treated as a calendar slot. Build as if it never opens.

How it works

01Payer or merchant hits a single checkout API
02The router selects a licensed rail the PSP already runs
03Account-abstraction is an optional UX layer (currently testnet)
04Settlement lands in the PSP’s existing accounts — no new token
05Exceptions (chargebacks, scheme rejects) post back into the PSP’s existing case system
06The legal source of truth stays with the incumbent register, admin, or custodian.

In the same conversation as

Modulr
Lemonway
Checkout.com routing
Not a L2 payments coin

If they raise

Where the money would actually go.

Not a token float. A budget against work. RCA Pad still takes 0% of proceeds.

Named operators
32%
Adapter work against the incumbent register, admin, or custodian.
Certifications & adapters
23%
A counsel memo that can survive a later reader.
Counsel & perimeter
17%
Dual-control drills, key ceremonies, and the person who owns them.
Claims & campaign ops
28%
Hiring the operator who already does this job at a licensed firm.

Operating week

What “in market” actually looks like.

SunOwnersWho can decide messaging and budget on a recorded line. If the answer is nobody, stop.
ThuCustomerNamed pilot (redacted) sees the same record the auditor saw.
FriKill switchRehearse unpublish in 24 hours. If it takes a committee, it is not a switch.
MonClaimsEvery public sentence checked against the register. Anything extra is unpublished.

The wedge

Why this one, not the other one.

They sell: Scheme-map licence
Who pays: A transfer agent willing to consume a revoke in production.
Unit economics: Annual software against an ops cost the board can see. Switching cost is the record, not the brand.
Moat on file: Scheme certifications already in motion with two processors.
Switching cost: The customer’s auditor has seen this book. Switching means a new auditor conversation.
Vs the comps: Checkout.com is a processor. This is plumbing for processors.
Why we listed it: The AA layer is on testnet and they said so — no mainnet theatre.

Next twelve months

What has to be true.

Counsel memo on the AA perimeter, or the UX layer stays dark.

Architecture says keys / title / NAV liability sit with a named licensed party — not Thistle North.

If they raise, it is to hire the remaining certifications and the second market — not to float a coin.

Traction

What you can verify today.

Operating notes for Payroll adapters
No token contract listed as a public sale
Pilot letters on file, identities redacted
Nairobi is the operating centre
The waitlist, if any, is a product list — not a book
RCA Pad does not take a cut of proceeds

Readiness

Six things a serious buyer asks. 100 is “ready to take to counsel and a customer.”

Product62
Customers96
Legal path84
Tech maturity70
Demand71
Market access44

Risks

What can kill it.

The one that actually kills it

The unit of account becomes a token

Seat plus event. If they attach a token as the unit of account, this company is a different company — and not one we will operate a campaign for.

Token temptation

If the wallet layer is ever described as a means of payment, the product becomes an e-money or CASP problem. This file treats that as a hard stop.

Perimeter

A supervisor can still read account-abstraction as issuing. Until counsel names the path, treat the AA layer as a lab.

Customer concentration

A handful of PSP design partners can stall the company if they slip. Ask who is paying, not who is ‘interested’.

United States

The US is out of scope on this file. That is deliberate. It also caps the TAM.

Scheme freeze

A card scheme can kill the router without talking to Thistle North. Concentration in one scheme is existential.

Token relapse

A later round that wants a public token puts Thistle North in a different perimeter. The file treats that as a hard stop.

Ask these next

01Where do keys, title, or NAV liability sit — and is that person licensed?
02Which geography is actually locked, and which is a hope?
03What does renewal look like if no round ever happens?
04Who can unpublish a public sentence in 24 hours, by name?
05Has counsel written the perimeter in a memo you can file?
06Who is the first named paying customer — not a letter of intent?

Structure

How money would actually move.

If this company raises, it raises with its own counsel and providers. The waitlist is a product list. It is not a round, a book, or an allocation on RCA Pad. We do not take a cut.

Entity: Thistle North Ltd
Path on file: Nairobi · counsel-named
Posture: No public sale
Pack: Build

Where they can operate

Named vs off-limits.

Named markets are where a sentence is allowed. Restricted is where it is not. This is not a worldwide offering.

Nairobinamed
Global publicrestricted

Team

Who runs it.

Sasha MoreauChief executive
Elena SatoMarkets

Stack

Payroll adapters
Payroll rails
Approval trail

Named with them

Northbridge Counsel
Meridian Tax

Who can decide

Sasha Moreau (Chief executive) will take a 30-minute call and decide budget. If the only person who can accept “we are not opening a sale” is a silent co-founder in another time zone, this company would not be on the board.

Year two is a second named market and the remaining certifications — still permissioned. It is not a public book. A public book would be a different company.

Claims with evidence

Statements with evidence.

Statement	Evidence	Status
Thistle North does not sell a token to the public on this pad	Posture lock	live
The product is payroll rails sold to institutions	Architecture + customer type	live
Payroll adapters is the method — not a listed asset	Desk snapshot	live
Retail buyers are out of scope	Named markets lock	live
Any raise completes with the issuer’s counsel and providers — not on RCA Pad	Fixed-fee terms	live
Production date for the chain layer is not committed	No board minute	draft
No public token is sold on this pad	Engagement terms + posture lock	live
Customers contemplated: Nairobi	Named markets on the file	live

On the record

Sprint packPackJun
Counsel lockPathJul
Claims register liveRegisterAug
Creator briefBriefSep

Operating log

11 Sep 09:45
Takedown SLA idle-tested.
08 Sep 11:40
A claim held for missing evidence.
04 Sep 08:22
Weekly report issued to the desk.
01 Sep 14:08
Creator set on disclosure. No buy language.

Path to now

Sprint
Pack accepted
Narrative, matrix, claims locked.
Path
Counsel names it
Or the file stays not-offering.
Live
Campaign
Waitlist and register. No purchase journey.

Not a subscription

This is not a sale page.

If this company raises, it raises with its own counsel and providers. The waitlist is a product list. It is not a round, a book, or an allocation on RCA Pad. We do not take a cut. Founders who want a pack like this one apply. Readers who want the company talk to the company — not to this pad.

Launch your own How an RCAICO works

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