That distinction matters. Brazil classifies virtual asset cross-border flows as foreign exchange operations, pushing institutional volume toward providers with real banking infrastructure. Trace built that stack there and became the main provider for the top four global payment companies operating in LatAm, including dLocal.
To date, Trace has processed more than $10 billion in cross-border volume.
Why the Founders See a Bigger Gap
Bernardo Brites, co-founder and CEO of Trace Finance, made the company’s position clear: “ Stablecoins alone do not solve cross-border payments. Stablecoins plus regulated local bank infrastructure does.”
Brites said the Series A funds will deepen the company’s banking, payments, and compliance infrastructure for global fintechs, exchanges, international banks, and enterprises that need to bridge digital settlement with local financial systems.
The Investor Case
Einar Braathen, Partner at Coinfund, framed Brazil as both a proof point and a filter. “Brazil is one of the largest and most operationally complex payment environments in the world,” Braathen remarked, adding that Trace built a regulated infrastructure that blue-chip businesses are using to scale while reducing costs compared to legacy alternatives.
Where the Money Goes
Trace will use the capital to pursue large global enterprises, deepen its FX and bank connectivity products, and expand its regulated footprint across Brazil, the United States, APAC, and additional priority jurisdictions.
New settlement products are in development, built on its existing regulated banking infrastructure and designed to connect local financial systems in Brazil and LatAm with global stablecoin liquidity.
What’s Next
Trace built its core infrastructure in one of the world’s most demanding regulatory environments. The question investors are now pricing in: whether that compliance stack travels as cleanly to APAC as it did from the U.S. to Brazil.
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