Tether, the issuer of stablecoin USDT, announced that it had led a pre-seed funding round for Peso, a Bolivian fintech startup focused on delivering payments, savings, and investment tools throughout Latin America.
The capital injection is designed to broaden access to rapid and affordable stablecoin-based payment options while boosting everyday adoption of USD₮ (USDT) across sectors such as retail, institutional finance, e-commerce, food delivery, ride-hailing, and banking infrastructure.
Peso equips users with a unified global USD₮ account accessible through a single application, enabling them to save funds, make purchases, invest, and transfer money internationally.
The company has already embedded USD₮ payments into popular digital platforms.
In Bolivia, it has integrated with Yango, a digital services provider, so that customers can place food orders and settle them directly in USD₮ within the app.
Beyond consumer apps, Peso supplies point-of-sale acceptance solutions for merchants along with virtual accounts registered in the user’s own name.
These accounts link USD₮ to Bolivia’s full banking system through QR codes and ACH transfer rails, allowing seamless movement between stablecoin balances and local fiat currency.
The new funding will help Peso expand its local on-ramps and off-ramps in its current markets of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina.
This expansion is intended to strengthen USD₮’s position as a settlement layer that connects different local currencies.
It will also advance the company’s broader development plans, particularly its network of merchant point-of-sale tools and virtual account services, with the aim of providing clearer and more accessible financial products to both individual users and businesses across the region.
Tether framed the investment as consistent with its objective of connecting conventional finance with digital assets by backing platforms that tackle practical financial needs through stable, liquid, blockchain-based payment methods.
The move supports wider practical adoption of stablecoins.
Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, stated that Peso is constructing everyday spending infrastructure that converts USD₮ from primarily a savings instrument into a payment channel people depend on regularly.
He noted that the approach matches Tether’s focus on financial inclusion and on delivering faster, simpler, and more interoperable services, and that backing Peso’s regional growth seeks to establish a fresh benchmark for stablecoin-powered offerings.
Alejandro Terán, CEO and co-founder of Peso, observed that residents of Latin America already hold and use USD₮, yet the missing element has been frictionless infrastructure for spending it in daily life.
The investment, he said, will speed up efforts to let people open accounts in minutes and employ USD₮ for routine activities ranging from QR-code payments to cross-border transfers.
Terán added that Tether’s decision to invest in a Bolivian startup acknowledges the talent and operational strength present in the country, and that the team is pleased to collaborate with Tether at this stage.
The size of the investment was not disclosed.
The announcement highlights Peso’s hybrid model of linking stablecoin rails with existing banking and merchant systems as a practical step toward embedding USD₮ more deeply into ordinary commercial and financial activity across multiple Latin American markets.
