The archive · Money & Fintech · Strategic decision · 2021–2026
ARQ bets LatAm will bank in digital dollars: $70M from Sequoia and Founders Fund
Ex-Revolut founders built DolarApp as a dollarized account for LatAm, hit 2M users, then rebranded as ARQ on a $70M Sequoia/Founders Fund round.
ARQ (formerly DolarApp)
What the business is
ARQ (formerly DolarApp) is a digital-dollar financial platform for Latin America: multi-currency accounts, USDC exchange, international cards, inbound payments and, after the 2026 rebrand, savings, investing and credit.
Starting capital：US$5M seed (2022) from Y Combinator and Kaszek, then a US$70M round (2026) led by Sequoia Capital and Founders Fund
How it started
Founded 2021 by Fernando Terrés, Zach Garman and Álvaro Correa, three Revolut product leads, right after Y Combinator's Summer 2021 batch. Their read, per the YC launch post: LatAm's inflation, bans on saving in dollars and cross-border fees push users toward USD, so a stablecoin-based account could become the everyday bank account locals can't get at home.
What happened
Launched in Mexico in 2022 with a $5M seed from Y Combinator and Kaszek, then expanded to Colombia, Argentina and Brazil. On 2026-03-04 Bloomberg reported a $70M round led by Sequoia and Founders Fund alongside the rebrand to ARQ, with the money earmarked for hiring and expanding beyond dollar transfers into wealth management, local-currency high-yield accounts, lending and a credit card.
How it ended up
Still scaling: as of 2026-09-02 ARQ reports 2M+ users and US$10B+ annualized volume, with 100+ staff across Mexico City, Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Bogotá, New York, London and Kraków; Y Combinator lists it as Active.
Background
ARQ, formerly DolarApp, is a digital-dollar financial platform for Latin America: users convert local currency into USDC, get a US bank account number, earn yield on their balance and spend with an international card. The 2026 rebrand widened the product to wealth management, local-currency high-yield accounts, lending and a premium credit card.
It was founded in 2021 by Fernando Terrés, Zach Garman and Álvaro Correa, three Revolut product leads, and went through Y Combinator's Summer 2021 batch. Their bet, explained in the YC launch post: Latin Americans face inflation, bans on saving in dollars and brutal cross-border fees, so a stablecoin-based account built for simplicity could become their everyday bank account — with 'dollarize your savings and earn 4% APY' as the hook.
DolarApp launched in Mexico in 2022 on a $5M seed from Y Combinator and Kaszek, then expanded to Colombia, Argentina and Brazil. On 2026-03-04 Bloomberg reported a $70M round led by Sequoia Capital and Founders Fund for the renamed ARQ, which says it serves 2M+ customers with more than US$10B in annualized transaction volume. As of September 2026 the company is still scaling, with 100+ staff across the Americas and Europe.
What has to be true
- The bet is explicit and falsifiable: LatAm users will trust digital dollars for everyday finance, not just remittances or savings.
- Traction is documented with specific numbers: 2M+ users and US$10B+ annualized volume, reported by Bloomberg on 2026-03-04.
- The funding signal is unusually strong for the region: a $70M round led by Sequoia and Founders Fund, back-to-back with Ualá's mega-round, per Cronista.
- The founding story is clean: three Revolut alumni built the anti-peso account as a YC startup and iterated from transfers into a full platform.
What can be applied
Pick the currency people actually trust: in a market with weak local money, dollar rails were the wedge, and the follow-on round only came when that wedge expanded into savings, credit and cards.
Aftermath
As of 2026-09-02, ARQ is listed as Active on Y Combinator with a team of about 100, serving 2M+ users across Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Brazil with more than US$10B in annualized transaction volume (per Bloomberg coverage of 2026-03-04). The $70M round from Sequoia and Founders Fund is funding hiring, the ARQ rebrand, and expansion into wealth management, high-yield local-currency accounts, lending and a credit card. No revenue or profitability figures have been disclosed.
Sources
- Fintech Méxicana DolarApp cierra ronda por US$70 millones y cambia su identidad: ahora se llama ARQ
- Stablecoin Finance App ARQ Completes $70 Million Funding Round with Investment from Sequoia Capital and Founders Fund
- Fintech 2026: Por qué los grandes fondos vuelven a apostar millones a startups de México a Argentina
- ARQ: The global financial platform for affluent consumers in the Americas
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