OpenFX, the cross-border payments startup using stablecoins as a settlement layer, raised $94 million in a Series A led by Accel, Lightspeed Faction, M13, Northzone, and Pantera, with participation from Atomico. The round values the company at roughly $500 million, according to a Reuters report citing sources familiar with the deal.

The company, founded in 2024 by FalconX co-founder Prabhakar Reddy, routes cross-border payments through stablecoins as an intermediary between traditional banking rails and digital infrastructure. The problem it targets is structural: cross-border FX settlements routinely take two to five business days, conversion costs run 50 to 150 basis points, and more than $4 trillion in working capital sits locked in pre-funded nostro accounts globally. “Institutions should not have to wait multiple business days to move capital across borders,” Reddy said. “We built OpenFX to deliver real-time, institutional-grade liquidity that reduces risk, lowers costs and allows capital to move as efficiently as the businesses behind it.”

This story is an excerpt from the Unchained Daily newsletter.

OpenFX processed more than $45 billion in annualized payment volume, up from $4 billion a year ago. Clients include MoneyGram, Yellow Card, and global payroll platforms. The company operates across more than 40 trading pairs, with over 98% of transactions settling in under 60 minutes. The new capital will fund expansion into Southeast Asia and Latin American corridors, where stablecoin use for cross-border payments has accelerated.

Investors framed the raise around the institutional use case for stablecoins rather than the retail narrative that typically dominates the conversation. Pantera Capital managing partner Paul Veradittakit described cross-border payments as “one of the largest and most structurally inefficient markets in global finance.” Atomico founder Niklas Zennström put it in terms of platform precedent: “Just as AWS removed the complexity of infrastructure to let developers build at scale, OpenFX is doing the same for money movement.”