JPMorgan Chase has quietly frozen accounts belonging to two fast-growing stablecoin-focused fintech companies, escalating long-standing tensions between traditional banks and crypto-native payment platforms serving high-risk jurisdictions.
The targeted firms include Blindpay, which enables stablecoin-based payments across Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil, and Kontigo, a Venezuela-focused platform offering on-ramps, remittances, and digital dollar transactions, according to The Information.
Both companies rely heavily on U.S. banking rails to move funds and support their remittance infrastructure.
Bank Says Action Not About Crypto
Despite the timing and the firms’ reliance on stablecoins, JPMorgan insisted the move was unrelated to the companies’ involvement in the crypto sector.
A spokesperson for the bank said, “This has nothing to do with stablecoin companies. We bank both stablecoin issuers and stablecoin-related businesses, and we recently took a stablecoin issuer public.”
JPMorgan notably served as a lead bookrunner for Circle’s IPO, the largest public listing yet by a stablecoin issuer, reinforcing its argument that the decision was not sector-driven.
Privately, however, bank sources suggested that geographic risk was a central factor.
Fintechs operating in economic crisis zones or jurisdictions with elevated AML concerns may expose banking partners to heightened compliance liabilities.
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That interpretation aligns with JPMorgan’s broader derisking strategy in regions linked to capital controls, hyperinflation, or unstable regulatory environments.
Rapid Growth Made The Startups Stand Out
Blindpay recently secured $3.3 million from Y Combinator, Circle Ventures, Bitso, and others to scale its Latam footprint.
Kontigo, backed by Coinbase Ventures, raised $20 million this year and claims it reached $1 billion in processed payments, $30 million in annualized revenue, and 1 million active users within its first year.
For now, it's unclear how severely the account freeze will impact the firms or whether they have already transitioned to alternative banking partners.
The situation apparently highlights a recurring pattern: crypto-native neobanks serving distressed economies remain at the mercy of traditional banking compliance frameworks, even as demand for stablecoins in those markets accelerates.
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