Global cross-border payments still run on infrastructure built half a century ago.
Most bank-to-bank transfers rely on SWIFT, a messaging network introduced in 1973. Its format was designed for telex-based communication and, despite decades of upgrades, the core architecture remains largely unchanged. A single human formatting error can send a payment into manual review for days. Transfers can even stall entirely if an intermediary bank sits in a country observing holidays—Japan’s Golden Week can effectively pause parts of the global payment chain for nearly a week.
And yet this system moves an extraordinary amount of money. Cross-border payments represent roughly $200 trillion in annual flows (~2x global GDP)—arguably the largest financial market in the world.
Domestic payments have already moved on. Real-time networks like UPI in India, PIX in Brazil, and RTP in the United States have reset expectations for how money should move: instant, transparent, and always on. Cross-border payments, by contrast, still rely on correspondent banking networks and batch settlement.
The deeper inefficiency isn’t just speed or cost, it’s architecture. Today an estimated $4 trillion in working capital sits idle while payments move slowly through correspondent banking networks. Businesses must pre-fund accounts across multiple jurisdictions simply to keep money flowing, locking up liquidity and adding unnecessary complexity to what should be a simple transfer.
Stablecoin technology changes the equation. For the first time, money can move globally with the same properties as information: instantly, programmatically, and around the clock. But turning this capability into real financial infrastructure requires more than settlement rails. Companies still need foreign exchange, liquidity management, compliance, and seamless integration with global pay-in and pay-out networks.
OpenFX is building that infrastructure layer.
OpenFX provides the core financial plumbing that allows companies to move money globally on stablecoin rails. The platform enables businesses to convert currencies, route payments, and settle transactions in minutes rather than days, bridging traditional financial systems with stablecoin-native payment rails. In less than two years since launch, OpenFX has already scaled to $45B in annualised total payment volume, supporting both stablecoin-native fintechs and global enterprises running cross-border treasury operations.
OpenFX is led by Prabhakar Reddy, a serial entrepreneur who previously co-founded FalconX, the $8B digital asset prime brokerage. Few founders understand global liquidity networks as deeply as Prabhakar. Over the past decade he has built infrastructure at the intersection of institutional trading, crypto markets, and global payments, assembling a team with experience across category leading businesses, like Stripe, PayPal, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Slack, and others.
As our partner, Sanjot Malhi puts it, “We’ve had a longstanding thesis on stablecoin technology disrupting global cross-border finance. OpenFX is a one of a kind platform building truly enterprise grade infrastructure, bridging the worlds of FX and stablecoins. And having personally known Prabhakar for a decade, it’s indeed a pleasure and privilege to be co-leading their Series A and partnering in building a category defining business.”
Global payments are moving from batch settlement to real-time financial networks. We believe OpenFX is building the default infrastructure for cross-border payments, a platform designed to move money across countries and currencies instantly as the financial system evolves, including toward agentic payments. We’re excited to co-lead OpenFX’s $94M Series A alongside Accel, Pantera, M13, and Atomico and partner with Prabhakar and the team as they build a category-defining platform for global financial infrastructure.
