The archive · Money & Fintech · Product decision · 2021–2026
belo bets stablecoin wallets beat peso inflation; $14M Tether-led Series A
Argentine fintech belo bets high-inflation users want to save in stablecoins and spend via crypto rails; three profitable years, $14M Tether-led Series A.
belo
What the business is
A Buenos Aires fintech whose digital wallet lets individuals and businesses hold, move and spend local currencies and stablecoins across countries, including an international Visa card (LUX) and embedded-finance tools.
How it started
Founded in Buenos Aires in 2021 by Manuel Beaudroit, previously co-founder and CMO of the bitcoin exchange Bitex, belo launched in September 2021. Its bet: in Argentina's high-inflation economy, people would rather hold digital dollars than depreciating pesos, but only if they could still spend that money on everyday purchases - so it built a wallet with a crypto-to-peso prepaid card.
What happened
A $3M seed closed in May 2022 with CRV, The Venture City and Newtopia among others. By 2026 belo reported three consecutive profitable years, a user base doubling for four straight months, and products spanning fiat and crypto wallets, international payments, embedded finance and LUX, a digital Visa card. In April 2026 Tether led a $14M Series A with Titan Fund, The Venture City, Mindset Ventures and G2, aimed at entering Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay while deepening its Brazilian business.
How it ended up
Scaling: after three profitable years, belo is using the Tether-led $14M to expand across Latin America and expects to reach 1 million users in Argentina by the end of 2027.
Background
belo is a fintech founded in Buenos Aires in 2021 by Manuel Beaudroit, who previously co-founded and led marketing at the bitcoin exchange Bitex. The app launched in September 2021 betting that Argentines would rather save in digital dollars than depreciating pesos - but only if that money could still be spent on daily life. Its answer was a wallet with a prepaid card that converts crypto to pesos at the moment of payment.
A $3M seed closed in May 2022 with CRV, The Venture City and Newtopia, when belo was one of Argentina's first crypto-card issuers under Mastercard's program. By 2026 the company reported three consecutive profitable years, a user base doubling for four straight months, and a platform spanning fiat and crypto wallets, international payments, embedded finance and LUX, a digital Visa card. In April 2026 stablecoin issuer Tether led a $14M Series A, with Titan Fund, The Venture City, Mindset Ventures and G2 participating.
The capital is earmarked for entering Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay, deepening Brazil, and hiring product, engineering and operations teams. belo says the round is for scaling a business that was already profitable, and targets 1 million users in Argentina by the end of 2027. Its path shows a crypto-adjacent fintech succeeding by solving a local pain - inflation and fragmented money movement - rather than selling speculation.
What has to be true
- It productized inflation hedging: stablecoin savings plus a spendable card solve a daily pain instead of asking users to trade.
- It was built from the start for cross-border, connecting fragmented financial systems between Argentina and Brazil rather than serving one closed market.
- Three profitable years before the Series A meant Tether's money scaled an existing business instead of rescuing it - an unusual position among LatAm fintechs.
- Tether leading the round aligned the stablecoin issuer's distribution with belo's core use case, giving the wallet a strategic backer with its own reasons to see stablecoin payments win.
What can be applied
In high-inflation markets the killer app is a hard currency you can still spend: stablecoins plus a card beat a pure exchange, and profitability before a big round gives founders leverage.
Aftermath
As of September 2, 2026, belo continues to run its Buenos Aires-based financial platform - fiat and crypto wallets, cross-border payments and the LUX Visa card - using the April 2026 Tether-led $14M Series A to enter Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay while deepening its Brazilian operations aimed at freelancers and remote workers. It reports three consecutive profitable years and expects to reach 1 million users in Argentina by the end of 2027.
Sources
- Billeteras cripto: la argentina Belo recauda US$3 millones para crecer en la región
- belo raises $14M Series A led by Tether
- Ronda de financiación de belo recaudó US$ 14 millones
spotted an error? The archive wants to know.
Your turn
You just read one. Describe what you are building, and see who is betting on the same thing.
Free account · 3 free questions · no card