Outside of AI, there’s no hotter sector than stablecoins. Big tech companies like Meta are exploring integration, Congress is on the precipice of advancing legislation, and venture investors—including generalist funds otherwise wary of diving back into crypto—are showering startups with funding. The latest is OpenFX, an infrastructure firm founded by Prabhakar Reddy, which is emerging from stealth with $23 million in funding led by Accel.
For those not versed in blockchain jargon, stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency pegged to an underlying asset, such as a fiat currency or a commodity like gold, and designed to stay at a certain price. By far, the most popular version has been dollar-backed stablecoins, with the market leaders Tether and USDC holding a combined market capitalization of over $200 billion.
While stablecoins serve an obvious utility for crypto players, who can settle and store capital in dollar-like assets without having to move back and forth between cryptocurrencies and fiat, they’re becoming increasingly feasible for a number of non-crypto use cases, from remittances to global payroll. Other than Bitcoin, stablecoins are poised to become the long-awaited “killer app” that crypto evangelists have long promised, though the technology itself is still in its early days.
That’s where companies like OpenFX come in. Readers of this newsletter have probably heard of Bridge, whose $1.1 billion acquisition by Stripe last October thrust stablecoins into the Silicon Valley consciousness. Bridge, along with its main competitor BVNK, helps companies move between fiat and stablecoins, allowing them to adopt stablecoins as a payment rail without having to manage the complicated crypto processes themselves. Take, for example, SpaceX, which uses Bridge to collect payments in different jurisdictions and move them through stablecoins into its central treasury, or Deel, which uses BVNK to pay contractors globally.
OpenFX is one layer more abstract. The major roadblock for stablecoins has always been that, while moving around crypto dollars may be near instantaneous and free, getting those crypto dollars into actual dollars (or other currencies) still means relying on the same old rails that blockchain is trying to replace. Until your neighborhood grocery store, and the neighborhood grocery store in Argentina and Nigeria, start accepting Tether or USDC, it doesn’t matter how fast and cheap stablecoins are. This is the so-called “last mile” dilemma, and it’s where OpenFX comes in.
Before starting OpenFX, Reddy was an investor at Accel in India and a serial entrepreneur, though his most successful company was his last—the institutional-focused crypto brokerage firm FalconX, which he decided to build after trying to do large block trades of crypto himself while at Accel. FalconX was last valued at $8 billion. While working on FalconX, Reddy began to see how global cross-border money movement worked, facilitated by the SWIFT network between financial institutions. “I saw how broken and fragmented it was,” Reddy told me. “All these ideas started churning behind the scenes.”
He decided to start work on OpenFX, which would help realize 24/7/365 money movement by solving the last-mile problem. Reddy said his goal is to supplant SWIFT. While Bridge and BVNK help companies adopt stablecoins as a payment rail, OpenFX will help move between fiat and stablecoins on the backend, as well as rework the costly foreign exchange process by using stablecoins as the intermediary to reduce fees, hence the startup’s name.
OpenFX started coding its product in early 2024, with the first trade executed in March 2024. Reddy declined to name any clients, but said OpenFX is targeting fintech 2.0 companies such as remittance companies, neobanks, and payroll processors—think Nubank, Revolut, and Remitly. They’re currently live with seven currencies—including dollars, euros, and Mexican pesos—with a plan to expand to 10 by the summer, including in Southeast Asia.
Reddy says that OpenFX is able to bring FX spreads down from around 69 basis points to sub-10, with 90% of its transactions settling in 60 minutes. If successful at scale, it could be enough of a technological leap for stablecoins to take off beyond pilots and experimentation. “We’re building this company with one single mission,” Reddy told me. “To make money move across borders as seamlessly as data.”
Leo Schwartz
X: @leomschwartz
Email: leo.schwartz@fortune.com
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VENTURE DEALS
- Novisto, a Montreal-based ESG data management and sustainability reporting company, raised $27 million in Series C funding. Inovia Capital led the round and was joined by existing investors White Star Capital, SCOR Ventures, Sagard, and all others.
- Clair, a New York City-based earned wage access provider, raised $23.2 million in Series B funding. Upfront Ventures led the round and was joined by existing investors Thrive Capital and others.
- Sweep, a New York City-based agentic workspace for enterprises, raised $22.5 million in Series B funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by Bessemer Venture Partners.
- Tarjama, a Dubai, UAE-based AI-powered Arabic language technology company, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Global Ventures led the round and was joined by Wamda Capital, TA Ventures, Phaze Ventures, and others.
- Rivan, a London-based synthetic fuel plants developer, raised £10 million ($13.4 million) in funding. Plural led the round and was joined by 20VC, NFDG, and angel investors.
- Seeds, a New York City-based investing platform for financial advisors, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Portage led the round and was joined by existing investors Social Leverage and Blank Ventures.
- Optura, a Nashville-based AI-powered operating system for healthcare, raised $6.5 million in seed funding. Susa Ventures and Matrix led the round and were joined by angel investors.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- MKB Company, backed by Align Capital Partners, acquired Silt Saver, a Covington, Ga.-based inlet protection, silt fence, and other sediment control products company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- O’Hara’s Son Roofing, a portfolio company of Angeles Equity Partners, acquired Starkweather Roofing, a Phoenix-based commercial roofing services provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Pinnacle MEP, a portfolio company of Blue Point Capital Partners, acquired Hammans Electric, an Indianapolis-based electrical contractor. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Shermco Industries, backed by Gryphon Investors, acquired R3L Engineering, a Parrish, Ala.-based engineering services for power delivery systems. Financial terms were not disclosed.
EXITS
- Nearmap, a portfolio company of Thoma Bravo, agreed to acquire itel, a Jacksonville-based data and analytics provider to the property and casualty insurance industry, from GTCR. Financial terms were not disclosed.
OTHER
- Worldeye Technologies acquired BidX, a Darmstadt, Germany-based advertising management services provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
