Remittances

El Salvador

2026-09-29 23:18:43

El Salvador Rolls Out Sivar, a $2 Remittance App Using Stablecoin Settlement on Base

El Salvador’s government and startup Modveon have launched Sivar, a national remittance app that lets U.S. residents send money to verified recipients in El Salvador for a flat $2 fee, regardless of transfer size. The service runs on stablecoin rails over Base, the blockchain developed by Coinbase, while Coinbase also provides the payment infrastructure from onramp to payout. Users in the app receive non-custodial wallets, and recipients can cash out at more than 1,000 locations across the country. The launch was announced Tuesday. Modveon signed a five-year agreement with AAB, the Salvadoran public institution formally known as Agencia Administradora de Fondos Bitcoin, or Bitcoin Fund Management Agency. The contract took effect this month and gives Modveon responsibility for building and operating the app. AAB is also listed as one of Modveon’s investors. The Palo Alto-based company has raised $10 million, in a round first announced in February, with Coinbase Ventures and Firebolt Ventures among the backers. Sivar also includes identity-based social and civic features for Salvadoran users, who can verify with the national DUI card, post content, join district-level communities, and vote in polls. Modveon said more than 25,000 Salvadorans used the app during its phased rollout before the national launch.

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Coinbase

2026-09-29 12:01:20

Modveon’s Sivar plugs into Coinbase infrastructure and Base with $2 flat-fee transfers to El Salvador

Coinbase said in a post on X that Salvadorans sent $9 billion back home last year, and percentage-based remittance fees took millions of dollars out of those flows. The company said Sivar, a product under Modveon, has now integrated Coinbase infrastructure and Base. Under the setup, users in the United States can send any amount to El Salvador for a flat $2 fee. Coinbase added that the service already includes the cash-out route into fiat channels. The update centers on transfer pricing and payment rails rather than a broader product rollout, with Coinbase framing the move around lowering the cost of remittances to El Salvador.

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El Salvador

2026-09-29 10:47:15

El Salvador to launch Sivar app for dollar-pegged stablecoins on Base

El Salvador is working on a government-backed app called Sivar, according to Odaily. The project is being developed with Modveon and comes five years after Bitcoin became legal tender in the country. The app is designed to let residents send, receive, and hold dollar-pegged stablecoins over Base, the blockchain network developed by Coinbase. It will also support remittances, a key payment use case in the country. Odaily said user verification on Sivar will be handled through government ID checks. The report did not disclose a launch date or additional product details.

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MoonPay

2026-09-29 07:22:59

MoonPay launches South Korea unit to work on KRW stablecoins and cross-border payments

Crypto payments company MoonPay has launched a South Korean subsidiary, MoonPay Korea, and said it plans to use the country as a base for its operations in Asia. The company said it will work with local partners across several areas tied to digital finance infrastructure. Those areas include Korean won stablecoins, cross-border payments, remittances, and broader digital asset infrastructure. The update was reported by Techub News, citing Crypto.news. No additional details were provided in the brief on the timeline, partner names, or product rollout. The announcement points to South Korea as a key market in MoonPay’s regional expansion plans, with the new entity positioned as a local operating arm for future cooperation.

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Felix

2026-09-02 13:11:59

Félix raises $200 million to expand stablecoin-based rails beyond remittances

Félix, a WhatsApp-based remittance service focused on Latinos in the United States, has raised $200 million in new financing. The package includes an $87 million equity round led by Andreessen Horowitz and a $113 million credit facility from General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund. According to the company and investors, most Félix transactions settle behind the scenes in USDC, while customers do not directly interact with crypto. The company said the new capital will support expansion beyond remittances into third-party lending and savings products, mobile credit and data purchases, and AI and financial infrastructure for what it calls a Cognitive Financial Companion on WhatsApp. Félix also said it has processed more than $8 billion in transactions for over six million people since its 2020 founding, operates in 11 Latin American markets, and works with payout and distribution partners including Walmart, UniTeller, Intermex, Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, and Checkout.com. The raise comes as legacy remittance firms also move into stablecoins, with Western Union having launched its USDPT stablecoin on Solana in May.

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Bank of Italy

2026-08-21 10:28:37

Bank of Italy study tracks USDC remittances and finds costs can range from 0.3% to nearly 9%

The Bank of Italy said in a research report released in July 2026 that it conducted a “mystery shopper” study to track 200 USDC transfers across 10 remittance corridors linking Italy with Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, and Japan. The study followed the full payment chain and found that total stablecoin remittance costs varied widely, from as low as 0.3% to nearly 9%. According to the report, on-chain blockchain transfer fees accounted for an average of just 0.4% of the total. Most of the cost came from fiat on- and off-ramp steps, including exchange spreads, credit card fees, and withdrawal charges. Compared with traditional services such as Wise, stablecoins were cheaper on some routes, including Brazil to Italy, but more expensive on others, including the United Arab Emirates to Italy. The report also found that blockchain settlement itself took only a few minutes, while end-to-end speed depended on local payment infrastructure. Countries with instant payment systems, such as Brazil’s PIX, Italy’s TIPS, and Argentina’s Transferencias 3.0, could complete the process in under 20 minutes. In South Africa and other markets still reliant on bank transfers, settlement could take one to two business days.

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TripleA

2026-08-15 07:03:52

TripleA CEO Eric Barbier says the future of remittances is no remittance at all

TripleA CEO Eric Barbier said the future of remittances may be a system where users no longer need traditional remittance flows. In a post cited by ChainCatcher, Barbier said he does not really believe in a "sandwich" stablecoin remittance model, where fiat is converted into stablecoins and then back into fiat at the other end. He argued that remittances often amount to moving a strong currency into a weaker one. In his view, stablecoins create a different kind of value by letting people in emerging countries hold a strong currency directly. As platforms push merchants to accept crypto, he said, stablecoins can now be spent directly rather than used only as a transfer rail. Based on that view, Barbier said the future for people in emerging countries is not to hold local currency, but to hold stablecoins, earn yield on them, and spend them.

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MoneyGram

2026-08-12 04:33:24

MoneyGram brings its crypto on-and-off ramps to Solana with cash access in more than 170 countries

MoneyGram said on Aug. 11 that its crypto cash-in and cash-out service, MoneyGram Ramps, is now live on Solana, giving developers a single API to connect their apps to the company’s retail cash network. Through that integration, users can walk into participating MoneyGram locations, convert USDC into local currency cash, or use cash to fund a wallet and buy USDC. The service links Solana apps to a network of nearly 500,000 cash access points across more than 170 countries for withdrawals, while cash deposits are available in more than 25 countries. Rift is the first Solana wallet to integrate the service, and MoneyGram is also operating as a validator on the Solana network. The move extends a model MoneyGram had already tested on Stellar and marks a broader push toward multi-chain infrastructure. The company, whose history dates back to 1940 and which was taken private in 2023 by Madison Dearborn Partners in a deal worth about $1.8 billion, is increasingly positioning its compliance stack, settlement rails, and physical agent network as infrastructure for external developers rather than just a remittance business.

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