Paradigm has led a $9 million Series A funding round for Latin American cross-border payments platform El Dorado, with participation from Coinbase Ventures and Verda Ventures, the company said Monday.
The funding highlights continued momentum behind digital asset-based payment systems targeting real-world financial use cases, particularly in regions where traditional infrastructure remains costly and slow.
Platform scales across Latin America
Founded in 2022 by Latin American immigrants, El Dorado has grown to more than 100,000 active users and has processed over 5 million transactions. The platform operates across 12 countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic.
Chief Executive Goncalvez estimates the region’s cross-border payments market at nearly $1 trillion annually, with about 60% tied to business-to-business activity. While a significant portion of flows runs between the United States and Latin America, payment corridors within the region remain underserved.
Expansion into business payments
El Dorado recently launched a business payments division aimed at enabling companies to move funds across borders more efficiently. The service combines stablecoin and fiat payment rails within a single system, using multi-signature and multi-organization account structures.
More than 100 business clients have already joined the platform, with early usage concentrated in imports of electric vehicles from China. The company is targeting markets where larger fintech firms such as Nubank and Wise have limited presence, including Bolivia, Paraguay, Ecuador, and Peru.
Infrastructure built on Tempo blockchain
The business payments product runs on Tempo, a Layer 1 blockchain developed by Paradigm and Stripe. According to Tempo executives, El Dorado is among the first platforms to offer globally accessible business accounts on the network, including for firms without U.S. entities.
Paradigm partner Arruda said Latin America processes over $100 billion in annual cross-border flows but continues to rely on fragmented systems that drive up costs and settlement times. He described El Dorado’s model as a direct response to these structural inefficiencies.
Shift toward practical blockchain adoption
The investment reflects a broader shift away from speculative crypto projects toward applications with tangible utility in global finance. El Dorado’s focus on business-to-business payments aligns with this trend, targeting the largest segment of cross-border transaction activity.
Stablecoin usage in B2B payments reached $221 billion in 2025 and is projected to exceed $1 trillion by 2030, signaling rapid adoption among payment providers and traders.
Outlook and competitive pressure
Growth in El Dorado’s business client base will be a key indicator of broader adoption beyond its initial trade corridors. Increased activity on the Tempo blockchain may also point to the emergence of a wider financial ecosystem built on the network.
At the same time, established fintech firms could face pressure to accelerate their digital asset strategies or expand into underserved Latin American markets. Regulatory developments, including Brazil’s new stablecoin framework, are likely to further shape adoption across the region.
Curious about cross-border crypto payments and on-chain credit? Explore key trends in our latest article on cross-border payments.
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