Koywe

Koywe is a crypto-to-fiat infrastructure company that gives businesses in Latin America API access to stablecoin on/off-ramps, local payment rails, and multi-currency treasury accounts. Where traditional cross-border payments in the region are slow, fragmented, and expensive, Koywe's platform bridges local banking systems directly to blockchain networks — letting any company settle in or out of USDC and other digital assets in real time, in local currency, across eight countries.

Background and Founding

Koywe was founded in 2022 by Ignacio Detmer and Guillermo Acuña. Detmer previously served as COO at Americas Car Group — the first Chilean unicorn, acquired by Prosus Group — and co-founded Opencasa, a proptech venture managing $75 million in U.S. properties. Acuña co-founded Cumplo, a peer-to-peer lending platform, and brings 15 years of startup experience across the region. The company entered Y Combinator's Winter 2023 batch and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.

How It Works

Koywe's core infrastructure connects local bank accounts and payment systems directly to blockchain networks. On the off-ramp side, a business receives a stablecoin payment — USDC or USDT on Ethereum, Solana, Base, Tron, Polygon, or BSC — and has it settled into local currency within minutes via the country's native payment rail. On the on-ramp side, a business or user converts local fiat into stablecoins for cross-border payments or digital dollar savings.

Supported local payment methods by country:

• Chile: Khipu and local bank transfers (CLP)
• Mexico: SPEI instant transfers (MXN)
• Colombia: PSE and Nequi (COP)
• Brazil: PIX (BRL)
• Argentina: Multiple local bank options (ARS)
• Peru: Local bank transfers (PEN)
• Bolivia: Available (BOB)

The developer-facing API is RESTful, with GraphQL also available. Koywe provides a sandbox environment for integration testing, CLI tooling, and real-time webhook notifications for order status events.

Products and Features

Multi-currency virtual accounts let businesses hold balances in multiple currencies within a single account, without needing separate local bank accounts in each country. Instant settlement between currency balances is available.

OTC desk: For larger volume conversions where market slippage matters, Koywe provides over-the-counter trading with competitive spreads.

Payment links and QR checkout let merchants generate shareable links or scannable codes to accept stablecoin payments from customers, with automatic local currency settlement.

Treasury dashboard provides centralized visibility across multi-country operations, including ledger statements, order reports, and transaction-level detail for reconciliation.

In April 2024, Koywe acquired Facto, a Chilean fintech founded by Mickle Foretic, extending its capabilities into the North American market.

Compliance and Regulation

Koywe has obtained local registrations across multiple jurisdictions. As of 2025, the platform is regulated in Argentina through Alerce Argentina SRL (CNV registry #24) and in Chile through Koywe Spa (CMF registry #196). The platform enforces KYB and KYC verification for business accounts, applies end-to-end encryption, and runs transaction monitoring for fraud prevention.

Funding and Investors

Koywe has raised $14.6 million across multiple rounds. Its seed round of $2.5 million closed in January 2023, shortly after its Y Combinator cohort. A Series A-II round of $5 million followed in September 2024. Investors include Aligned Ventures, Bitso, Concentric, Ferter, and Golden Record Ventures.

Ecosystem Partnerships

In May 2025, Koywe joined the Borderless.xyz global stablecoin orchestration network, integrating its direct bank connections in Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, and Colombia with Borderless.xyz's single-API platform.

Koywe also established a partnership with Stables, a stablecoin payment platform using Koywe's infrastructure to build LATAM payment rails.

Solana and the Stablecoin Stack

Solana is one of the blockchain networks directly supported in Koywe's on/off-ramp infrastructure. USDC on Solana can flow through Koywe's rails to settle into CLP, MXN, COP, ARS, PEN, or BRL. Solana's low transaction fees and high throughput make it a practical fit for high-frequency, low-value remittances and payments — the dominant use case for consumers and small businesses in Latin America.