Zebec Protocol, a platform on the Solana blockchains that allows users to send and receive payments, has raised $28 million between public and private sales to launch its ZBC token.

The core Zebec payroll product allows workers to be paid by the second in USDC and other stablecoins.

The $21 million private sale investors included Circle, Coinbase, Solana Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Alameda Research. The $7 million public sale in partnership with Republic was priced at the same $0.021 price per token as the public sale.

“A public sale is not a capital-generating event,” Zebec founder Sam Thapaliya told CoinDesk in an interview, explaining the equal pricing. “Public sales should not be a way for private investors to have these unrealized gains. Rather, it should be more of a community-generating event. Crypto is all about being able to give access to the public, the same access that private investors are able to get.”

Read more: Zebec Protocol Launches on Solana Offering Flexible Payroll

The ZBC tokens were released instantly to buyers and available to trade on various exchanges. ZBC will serve as a governance token for the Zebec decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Zebec also plans to introduce staking rewards for holders and incentives for developers building on the platform. Holders who stake ZBC will soon be able to list the tokens on a Solana-based Zebec debit card.

“[The token sale] allows us to give some form of governance to the community. It means, all of a sudden, you have hundreds of people who are actually going to be able to have a say in how the protocol performs. It means now you have people with vested interest,” Thapaliya said.