Two billion dollars in annualized volume is a number that gets a fintech reporter’s attention. For Bloquo, a Portuguese fintech with Brazilian founders, it’s the headline metric from its October 2026 seed round [Dealroom News, October 2026]. The company has built a stablecoin-powered infrastructure layer for cross-border payments, foreign exchange, and trade finance. It is not a consumer app. Its customers are banks, brokers, and payment providers looking to offer digital-asset services without building the regulatory and technical stack from scratch.
Founders Carlos Russo and Thiago Cesar are not newcomers. They were key figures at Transfero, the company behind BRZ, Latin America’s first stablecoin pegged to the Brazilian real [MarketersMEDIA, October 2025]. Their new venture, Bloquo, is an attempt to productize that hard-won experience in liquidity, compliance, and settlement into a wholesale API business.
The wedge: VASP-as-a-Service
Bloquo’s core bet is that financial institutions want to participate in the efficiency of blockchain-based settlements but lack the appetite to become crypto companies. Its answer is a white-labeled infrastructure platform called Bloquo VASP [Dealroom company profile].
The product suite is broad, aimed at abstracting complexity. It offers API-enabled tools for payments orchestration, multi-currency exchange, digital-asset custody, and regulatory compliance across more than 100 countries [Bloquo blog]. For clients, it is a turnkey way to offer stablecoin on-ramps, off-ramps, and international settlement.
A second product line, Bloquo Finance, extends the model into trade finance. It is described as an on-chain credit layer, connecting stablecoin liquidity to real-world asset-backed opportunities [Bloquo blog]. The vision is a unified stack: a payment settles via a stablecoin, and the resulting liquidity can be instantly deployed into a short-term financing opportunity.
Founders from the first wave
The team’s pedigree is Bloquo’s most tangible asset. Co-founders Carlos Russo and Thiago Cesar have a track record in the precise niche the company is targeting.
- Regulatory and financial architecture. Carlos Russo, the CEO, was formerly the CFO of Transfero Swiss and led the development of the BRZ stablecoin [BeInCrypto, retrieved 2026]. His background blends investment banking with deep blockchain infrastructure experience.
- Product and commercial launch. Thiago Cesar, the former CEO of Transfero Group, was one of the creators of the BRZ stablecoin [Brazil Treasury Summit, November 2026]. He brings firsthand experience in launching and scaling a foundational Latin American crypto asset.
This history is more than a resume line. It means the founders have navigated the early, ambiguous regulatory environment for digital assets in Brazil. They have built liquidity pools and managed the operational risks of a stablecoin. That institutional knowledge is what Bloquo is now selling.
Traction and the seed round
The $3.67 million seed round, co-led by Crescera Capital and Triaxis Capital with participation from Lattice Capital, closed on October 30, 2026 [Dealroom News, October 2026]. It follows a $1.1 million pre-seed from angel investors in early 2025 [MarketersMEDIA, October 2025]. The new capital arrives alongside reported traction that suggests product-market fit.
As of the seed announcement, Bloquo reported 125 active institutional clients and approximately $2 billion in annualized transaction volume [Dealroom News, October 2026]. The company lists crypto exchange Bybit and payments infrastructure firm Conduit among its institutional users or partners [Bloquo blog]. The funding round and client metrics point to a business moving beyond prototype.
| Round | Date | Amount | Lead Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-seed | Early 2025 | $1.1 million | Angel investors |
| Seed | October 2026 | $3.67 million | Crescera Capital, Triaxis Capital |
The regulatory tightrope
The single largest question mark for any fintech in this space is regulation, and Bloquo is no exception. The company is in the process of seeking authorization as a virtual asset service provider (VASP) with the Central Bank of Brazil [Bloquo, retrieved 2026]. This is not a minor detail; it is the license to operate.
The regulatory landscape is in flux. Brazilian VASPs that applied for authorization by October 30, 2026, may continue existing services during a review period but cannot add new service categories [GNCrypto News, retrieved 2026]. Central Bank data as of that date listed no firms as fully authorized [Coingabbar, retrieved 2026]. For Bloquo, whose value proposition hinges on being a compliant rail, navigating this process successfully is existential.
The company’s answer, woven into its product, is to bake regulatory frameworks into its infrastructure, designing for both regulated and non-regulated entities [Bloquo, retrieved 2026]. Its bet is that its founders’ prior experience with BRZ provides a navigational advantage. The market will judge whether that advantage is enough.
What to watch in the next twelve months
For Bloquo, the next year will be defined by two milestones. The first is the outcome of its VASP authorization process with the Brazilian central bank. A green light would solidify its position as a regulated operator and likely accelerate client acquisition among conservative financial institutions.
The second is the scaling of its Bloquo Finance trade credit layer. Connecting stablecoin liquidity to real-world asset finance is a more ambitious and complex bet than pure payments infrastructure. Evidence of meaningful volume or flagship partnerships in this segment would signal a successful expansion of its wedge.
The $3.67 million seed from Crescera and Triaxis is a vote of confidence in a team that has done this before. The reported $2 billion in annualized volume is a signal that the market needs the rails. The open question is whether Bloquo can be the company that lays them down at scale, or if the regulatory and competitive friction will prove too great. For banks in Brazil and beyond looking at stablecoins, is the infrastructure finally ready?
Sources
- [Dealroom News, October 2026] Brazil's Bloquo raises $3.67M seed for stablecoin payments infrastructure | https://app.dealroom.co/news/note/brazil-s-bloquo-raises-3-67m-seed-for-stablecoin-payments-infrastructure
- [MarketersMEDIA, October 2025] Founders of the First Latin America Stablecoins Build Bloquo for Global Commerce. | https://news.marketersmedia.com/founders-of-the-first-latin-america-stablecoins-build-bloquo-for-global-commerce/89172384
- [Dealroom company profile] Bloquo company profile | https://app.dealroom.co/companies/bloquo_1
- [Bloquo blog] Bloquo blog | https://bloquo.fi/blog
- [BeInCrypto, retrieved 2026] Carlos Russo profile | https://beincrypto.com
- [Brazil Treasury Summit, November 2026] Event participant details | https://braziltreasurysummit.com
- [GNCrypto News, retrieved 2026] Brazilian VASP authorization update | https://gncrypto.news
- [Coingabbar, retrieved 2026] Central Bank of Brazil license data | https://coingabbar.com
- [Bloquo, retrieved 2026] Bloquo regulatory statement | https://bloquo.com