Reap, a Payward-owned fintech platform and Visa partner, is set to launch a Mexican peso stablecoin to challenge the U.S. dollar’s dominance. S. dollar’s overwhelming dominance in the stablecoin market, Payward-owned fintech platform Reap is preparing to launch a Mexican peso-pegged stablecoin.
The Hong Kong-based company, a key Visa partner, aims to leverage the token for round-the-clock cross-border foreign exchange (FX) settlements, bypassing the constraints of traditional banking hours.
Reap founder Daren Guo confirmed the plans, revealing that the Mexican peso is just the beginning. The company is also actively exploring stablecoins pegged to the Hong Kong dollar, the euro, the South Korean won, and the Japanese yen. This initiative signals a strategic bet on the future of finance, where localized digital currencies could dramatically reduce friction and costs for international businesses.
Launch Mexican Peso Stablecoin: beyond dollar dominance
The digital asset space is saturated with U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins, which account for an estimated 99% of all stablecoin payments. While these have been instrumental in the growth of crypto trading, their utility for everyday international commerce has been limited, especially when the underlying business transactions are not in USD. Reap’s focus on non-USD stablecoins addresses this gap directly, targeting a tangible business need.
According to Guo, the traditional system for moving money across borders is plagued by inefficiencies. “In emerging and cross-border markets, moving money between currency corridors can incur fees of 5% to 7%,” he noted.
These costs, combined with settlement times that can stretch for days due to reliance on correspondent banks and standard banking hours, create significant friction for global companies. The promise of public blockchains is their continuous operation, a feature that the bitcoin trading market operates on globally.
Reap intends to bring that same 24/7 efficiency to the world of foreign exchange.
By introducing stablecoins pegged to local currencies, Reap aims to provide a “more localized and cost-efficient experience” for its clients. This allows a company in Mexico, for example, to conduct business using a digital peso, settling transactions instantly and at a fraction of the cost without needing to first convert to and from U.S. dollars.
It’s a vision for a multi-polar digital currency world, moving beyond the current monolithic reliance on the dollar.
The Visa and Payward partnerships explained
Reap’s strategy is powered by two critical partnerships: one with payments giant Visa and the other through its acquisition by Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken. These relationships provide both the mainstream financial rails and the deep crypto infrastructure necessary to execute such an ambitious plan.
As a Visa Principal Issuer Member (VPIM) in both Hong Kong and Mexico, Reap has the authority to issue payment cards directly on Visa’s network.
Guo neatly summarized the division of labor: “Visa makes stablecoins settle. Reap makes them spendable.” In this model, Visa operates at the network level, providing the global infrastructure that allows stablecoins to be used for settlement across its vast network. Reap, meanwhile, handles the complex, regulated, and customer-facing aspects of the business.
This includes issuing the physical or virtual cards, conducting necessary customer checks (KYC/AML), managing bank relationships, and ensuring compliance with local regulations in over 100 markets it supports.
Stephen Karpin, Visa’s Asia-Pacific president, emphasized that this is not about replacing the old system but enhancing it. “We do not view this as a binary choice between blockchain networks and traditional banking infrastructure. We see them as being complementary,” Karpin stated.
The goal is to use stablecoins to reduce friction where they offer clear operational benefits while ensuring they remain connected to the broader financial ecosystem. This pragmatic approach from Visa lends significant legitimacy to Reap’s efforts.
Synergies from the Payward acquisition
The acquisition by Payward significantly expands Reap’s potential capabilities. Being part of the same family as a major exchange like Kraken opens the door to a much wider array of crypto-native services. While Reap provides the regulated on-ramp and off-ramp for businesses, the connection to Kraken offers a gateway to the broader digital asset economy.
Several major exchanges like Kraken and Coinbase have been actively working to broaden crypto access.
Guo hinted at this integration, stating, “Our recent acquisition by Payward opens up additional capabilities, including possible access to yield, tokenized equities and trading.” This suggests a future where Reap’s business clients can do more than just make payments.
They could potentially earn yield on their stablecoin holdings, access tokenized versions of traditional assets, or seamlessly trade between different digital currencies directly from their treasury accounts. This transforms a simple payment solution into a comprehensive digital finance platform for businesses.
Tackling the inefficiencies of legacy FX
The global foreign exchange market, despite its massive scale, operates on infrastructure that has changed little in recent decades. The reliance on the SWIFT messaging system and a network of correspondent banks means that even a simple international transfer involves multiple intermediaries, each adding time and cost to the transaction. The market is also fragmented by time zones, effectively closing for business over the weekend.
This is the core problem that blockchain-based settlement aims to solve. By using public blockchains, which are always on, and stablecoins, which represent fiat currency on those chains, Reap can enable instant, 24/7/365 settlement.
A business can pay an international supplier on a Saturday night, and the funds will be received and available for use in seconds, not days. This capability is not just a marginal improvement; it’s a fundamental change in how global commerce can be conducted.
Reap’s success is a testament to the demand for such solutions. Guo reported that the company’s revenue and transaction volume tripled in 2025, with card and payments volume continuing to grow by 33% year-over-year in the first half of 2026.
This growth underscores the real-world demand from businesses struggling with the limitations of the current financial system and shows a clear trend of growing institutional demand for crypto-based financial tools.
Outlook for a multi-currency stablecoin future
Reap’s focus on a Mexican peso stablecoin as its first non-USD offering is a calculated choice. The company’s VPIM license in Mexico provides a solid regulatory and operational foundation. The U.S.-Mexico corridor is one of the largest remittance and trade channels in the world, making it a prime market for a more efficient payment solution.
Success here could serve as a powerful proof-of-concept for the broader vision.
The other currencies on Reap’s radar—the Hong Kong dollar, euro, won, and yen—represent major global economic hubs where the demand for efficient cross-border settlement is high. While Guo did not provide a specific timeline for their rollout, the intention is clear: to build a platform that can support on-chain foreign exchange for a diverse range of currency pairs, available anytime.
However, the path forward is not without challenges. Building sufficient liquidity for each new stablecoin will be critical for its success. Furthermore, the regulatory landscape for stablecoins is still evolving globally, and navigating the specific requirements in each jurisdiction will be a complex undertaking.
Despite these hurdles, Reap’s initiative represents a pivotal moment for stablecoins, potentially marking their transition from a speculative crypto-trading tool to an essential piece of modern financial infrastructure.