The Future of Global Payment Infrastructure 

 

The scale at which money moves around the world is enormous, but it often feels abstract because the world’s payment rails are effectively invisible. 

 

According to J.P Morgan, in 2024 there was over $200 trillion in annual cross-border payment volume, this is expected to surpass $300 trillion within the next several years. 

 

New waves of technology have only amplified the speed and volume of money that can be sent around the world. 

 

 

Even though a massive amount of money flows across borders every year, the FX payment rails have been resistant to change. It’s taken decades since the start of electronic payments to get nations to build real-time payment (RTP) systems for domestic rails, and still, linking RTPs between different nations is a regulatory and logistical hellscape. 

 

Pantera is excited to lead OpenFX’s series A, alongside our friends at Accel, Atomico, M13 and Northzone, with participation from Hash3, Variant, among others. 

 

OpenFX is transforming the FX market by connecting the fragmented cross-border payment market, enabling companies to transact in real-time, on open rails, and transparent FX settlement. 

 

Modern FX settlement imposes significant friction on money movement. Cross-border settlement times are often delayed, taking between two to seven days, and charging high fees (1 to 3 percent). As globalization increases, and the demand for global payments grows, businesses must transact through an increasingly fragmented web of intermediaries, limited operating hours, and manual processes that add further systemic friction to the flow of funds. 

 

OpenFX’s flagship product offers a simple API that aggregates fragmented domestic payment rails to bypass the complex correspondent banking system and offers better pricing through proprietary routing. The end result – a better cross-border payment solution that is 99 percent faster, 99 percent cheaper, and available 24/7. 

 

And the market has responded to OpenFX offering, it now supports nine currencies and has reached over $40B in annualized total payment volume in a mere 18 months since launch.

 

 

OpenFX expands what is possible for modern fintech and ecommerce businesses:

• Real-time marketplace settlement: Platforms can collect funds in GBP and disburse in USDC or MXN within the hour
• Dynamic treasury management: Finance teams can adjust currency positions multiple times daily as rates move
• Embedded FX: SaaS companies can embed instant FX and payouts directly into their customer experience

 

Most importantly, there’s perhaps no team better suited to build the next generation of cross-border money movement. OpenFX is led by Prabhakar Reddy, a former venture capitalist at Accel and also one of the cofounders of FalconX, which scaled to become one of the largest digital asset prime brokers that provides deep liquidity and financing at institutional scale. 

 

The opportunity is incredibly clear – most payment rails were built for a pre-internet world without internet native money. Stablecoins are internet-native money. 

 

OpenFX is pioneering the future of global payments infrastructure, starting at the most fragmented layers of the payment stack – foreign exchange and cross-border money movement. 

 

Better money. Faster money. Open money. 

If you’re serious about operational leverage at scale, reach out at hello@openfx.com.

---

Information presented is for informational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any securities. All investments involve risk and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. There can be no assurance that this investment will provide a return for the investing fund. Be sure to consult with a tax professional before implementing any investment strategy. Investment Advisory Services offered through Pantera, a Registered Investment Advisor with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Past performance is not indicative of future results.