Bleap has launched a stablecoin-settled transfer corridor between Brazil and Europe, positioning itself against SWIFT-reliant providers such as Wise.
The financial account provider has introduced a service that allows Brazilians living in Europe to move money from Brazil without routing payments through SWIFT-based banking infrastructure. The launch targets a segment of cross-border payments that has traditionally relied on correspondent banking networks, which the company says keeps costs high for individual transfers.
Why SWIFT-based corridors are costly
Traditional cross-border transfers rely on a bank in one country sending payment instructions over SWIFT to a bank in another, with settlement occurring separately between the institutions involved. Providers expanding into a new market typically face two options: route payments through SWIFT and pay fees to each correspondent bank in the chain, which requires no local licence but is comparatively slow and expensive, or establish a licensed local entity, which is faster to operate but costly to set up. In both cases, these costs are generally passed on to the end customer, particularly affecting smaller, individual remittances rather than institutional transfers.
Bleap's model replaces the SWIFT leg with stablecoin settlement, which the company states allows value to move across borders instantly. A local partner in each country then handles the final step, converting the stablecoin value into local currency and disbursing it through that country's domestic payment rails. In Brazil, this means customers send reais through PIX, the country's instant payment system, with the equivalent amount arriving in a Bleap account in euros within seconds. Transfers are processed at the mid-market exchange rate, with no transfer fee and 0% IOF, Brazil's tax on financial transactions. According to the company, the underlying use of stablecoins is not visible to the end customer.
The transfer feature is integrated into Bleap's broader account offering, which already includes global spending with no foreign exchange fees, cashback of up to 20%, USD savings accounts (with EUR savings planned), and investment options, all operated under a European IBAN. Brazilian customers can open an account using a CPF and Brazilian identification alone, without a European residence visa, subject to verification checks.
Funding and expansion plans
Bleap has raised more than EUR 7.6 million across two funding rounds since late 2024: a EUR 2.1 million pre-seed round led by Ethereal Ventures, followed by a EUR 5.5 million seed round led by Blossom Capital. The company reports more than 70.000 users to date. According to Bleap, the funding will support the opening of additional transfer corridors based on the same stablecoin-settlement model, as well as continued user growth.
The launch reflects a broader trend of fintech providers using stablecoins to settle cross-border payment legs outside traditional correspondent banking networks, an approach increasingly explored by remittance and neobanking providers seeking to reduce settlement costs on retail-sized transfers.
