Codex

Codex is an Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain purpose-built for stablecoin payments, FX, and settlement. Founded in 2024 by Haonan Li, Momo Ong, and Victor Yaw (alumni of Revolut, Airwallex, Wise, Ant Financial, and Binance), Codex launched mainnet in June 2025 backed by a seed round led by Dragonfly Capital with Coinbase Ventures, Circle Ventures, Cumberland, Wintermute, Selini Capital, and Bybit. The chain is EVM-equivalent, settling on Ethereum L1, but its core innovation is that users pay gas in USDC rather than ETH. The protocol embeds compliance primitives at the base layer: sanctions screening, account-level freezing, audit-ready transaction memos, and an on-chain address book. USDC launched on Codex as a native asset via a direct Circle partnership; subsequent additions include EURC, KRWQ (Korean Won, January 2026), and TRYB (Turkish Lira, November 2025). By January 2026, native USDC supply on the chain exceeded USD 52 million. Codex offers three products: Codex Chain (the settlement layer), Codex FX (a B2B cross-border payments platform accepting USD, EUR, and GBP, settling in under 30 minutes, and bridging USDC, USDT, and PYUSD across Ethereum, Solana, and Tron), and Codex Par (an API-first 1:1 USDC-to-USDT swap service launched July 2026 for payment operators). Codex FX's multi-chain bridge is the direct connection to Solana's stablecoin ecosystem, enabling institutions to route dollar liquidity between Solana and Ethereum without leaving stablecoin rails. The target market is B2B intermediaries in emerging-market FX corridors including Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and the Philippines. No public security audits are referenced in available sources; block production currently relies on a single sequencer with decentralisation listed as a future roadmap item.