XFX

By Chris Ahn
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We’re excited to share that Haun Ventures has led the Seed round in XFX with participation from Castle Island Ventures, Oak, Maya Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and other strategics and angels.

Stablecoin payments have emerged as one of the most widely used and promising use cases in crypto. In the year ending May 2025, over $37 trillion of annual transaction volume flowed through stablecoins, an increase of 2x over the prior year. Using stablecoins, a cross-border payment that used to cost $40 and take multiple business days now costs cents and takes minutes. For multinational companies generating revenue abroad, companies paying international workers, or users sending remittances, stablecoins represent a 10x (or more) improvement on costs and usability.

However, stablecoins face a major FX and liquidity problem ahead. The vast majority of stablecoins today are USD-denominated stablecoins. As a result, a successful stablecoin payment requires an FX transaction for final execution. 

Take a typical remittance from the U.S. to Mexico:

• The user’s USD is converted to USDC (USD stablecoin)
• USDC is sent to Bitso (Mexican exchange)
• A market maker that operates on Bitso exchanges USDC for MXN
• MXN gets disbursed to the end recipient in Mexico 

Because FX conversion still relies on slow traditional rails, market makers are left holding USDC and waiting days to replenish MXN. This mismatch of seconds for crypto but days for fiat, creates a growing working capital crunch as stablecoin volumes rise.

In short, stablecoins need a native FX solution that operates at the speed of stablecoins.

Enter XFX, a platform that combines onchain stablecoin transfers with a proprietary liquidity network that ensures local currency is available instantly on the other end. No more multi-day delays, no more FX gaps. The company was founded by three ex-Bitso execs. Santi Alvarado previously led product for Bitso Business and was one of the first customers of Bridge. During his time at Bitso, he saw this FX liquidity problem first hand. Santi is the rare blend of someone who sees the future but can bridge it back to a practical present day solution. He is joined by Beto, who previously led markets at Bitso, and Jason Losh, who was previously the SVP of Engineering at Bitso and CTO at Zenrock Labs.

I first met Santi while doing diligence on stablecoins in 2023. After every conversation, I left feeling simultaneously dumb and smarter. Dumb because I knew little in comparison, and smarter because I would learn something new. Santi’s level of understanding and nuance around stablecoins and how cross-border payments work is inspiring. When he left Bitso and told me he was starting something new, I knew we had to invest. We’re thrilled to support XFX in building the backbone of crypto-native FX, making global payments as seamless and instant as sending an email.