The main alternatives to Conduit are BVNK and Bridge for stablecoin-powered payments infrastructure, Thunes and Nium for fiat-rail payout networks in the same emerging-market corridors, and a settlement layer such as Frame when the buyer needs policy checks before release and evidence of reported outcomes through configured integrations. Which alternative fits depends on whether you are buying corridors, accounts, or settlement.
Quick summary
- Conduit: USD accounts, wallets, and payments for businesses in Latin America, Africa, and Asia; fiat and stablecoins on one API.
- BVNK: stablecoin payments processing at larger scale, being acquired by Mastercard.
- Bridge (Stripe): stablecoin issuance and money movement inside the Stripe ecosystem.
- Thunes / Nium: fiat-rail payout networks with deep emerging-market reach.
- Frame: a settlement layer for policy checks before release and evidence of reported outcomes through configured integrations.
What Conduit does well
Conduit’s pitch is USD access for businesses the correspondent network serves worst. Through one API it opens named virtual USD accounts and stablecoin wallets, then moves money across an unusually wide rail list for its size: Fedwire, FedNow, RTP, and SWIFT on the US and global side; PIX, TED, and SPEI in Brazil and Mexico; SEPA and SEPA Instant in the eurozone; USDC, USDT, and other stablecoins on-chain. It routes across eight US banking partners rather than depending on one, handles KYB, AML, and transaction monitoring by default, and onboards customers from 100 or more countries, including regions it describes as historically hard to bank. The company raised a $36 million Series A co-led by Dragonfly and Altos Ventures in 2025 to expand the network across Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
That focus is the strength. The regions Conduit targets are where de-risking removed correspondent relationships fastest and where corridor costs run highest, which is why the World Bank still measures average remittance costs above 6% globally with the worst corridors far above that.
The alternatives, by need
BVNK, for stablecoin payments at processor scale
BVNK processes stablecoin pay-ins and payouts with fiat rails attached and is being acquired by Mastercard, with the deal expected to conclude in late 2026. How it differs from Conduit: larger processing scale and merchant orientation, less emphasis on named USD accounts for emerging-market businesses. Best for: PSPs and merchants processing stablecoin payments in Europe, the UK, and the US; see BVNK alternatives.
Bridge, for Stripe-aligned building blocks
Bridge, acquired by Stripe in February 2025, offers stablecoin issuance, orchestration, and money movement as developer primitives. How it differs from Conduit: building blocks over a packaged USD-access product, and platform alignment with Stripe. Best for: product teams composing their own stablecoin flows inside the Stripe universe.
Thunes and Nium, for fiat-rail payout reach
Both run payout networks with direct connections into local payment systems across emerging markets, without requiring a stablecoin leg. How they differ from Conduit: the corridor coverage comes entirely from fiat-rail memberships and partnerships, with the strengths and cut-offs of those rails. Best for: businesses whose counterparties want local-currency delivery on local rails and whose treasury does not want digital assets in the loop; the wider field is mapped in cross-border payment infrastructure providers.
A settlement layer, for institutional flows across rails
Conduit answers “how does my business get USD?” Frame is the settlement layer for modern finance. Through configured integrations, Frame Rules checks the institution's policy before release, and Frame Proof seals the outcome reported by the customer's execution platform. The customer's platforms execute the transaction. Rail coverage, execution timing and finality depend on the configured integration and the underlying systems. The institution remains responsible for its policies, permissions and operating controls.
How to choose
- Corridors first. List your top ten flows by value and check each provider’s coverage and delivery method on those specific routes, not the marketing map.
- Look at the fiat edges. Banking-partner depth and redundancy decide resilience; multi-bank routing is worth more than a longer rail list.
- Price your volumes. Tiered pricing, FX spreads, and off-ramp costs move the total more than headline fees.
- Assign the compliance seams. Who runs KYB, monitoring, and Travel Rule data on each leg, and what evidence you receive for your own regulator.
- Plan the exit before you enter: account portability and how quickly flows could re-route if a provider or partner failed.
Where Frame fits
Frame is the settlement layer for modern finance. Through configured integrations, Frame Rules checks the institution's policy before release, and Frame Proof seals the outcome reported by the customer's execution platform.
The customer's platforms execute the transaction. Rail coverage, execution timing and finality depend on the configured integration and the underlying systems. The institution remains responsible for its policies, permissions and operating controls. Related reading: verifiable evidence.
See how a rail-neutral settlement layer works: the Frame Blueprint.
Common questions.
What is Conduit?
Conduit is a cross-border payments platform powered by stablecoins, focused on giving businesses in Latin America, Africa, and Asia access to USD accounts and payments. Through one API it offers named virtual USD accounts, stablecoin wallets, and payouts and pay-ins across rails including Fedwire, FedNow, RTP, SWIFT, SEPA, PIX, and SPEI, settling in fiat or stablecoins. It raised a $36 million Series A co-led by Dragonfly and Altos Ventures in 2025.
Who are Conduit's main competitors?
For stablecoin-powered cross-border payments the closest names are BVNK and Bridge; for emerging-market payout networks built on fiat rails, Thunes and Nium; for embedded USD accounts, other banking-as-a-service style providers. Institutions evaluating policy checks before release and outcome evidence through configured integrations can also consider a settlement layer such as Frame.
Why do emerging-market businesses use providers like Conduit?
Because USD access through correspondent banking is exactly where de-risking hit hardest: fewer correspondent relationships serve those regions, opening accounts is slow, and payments route through multiple intermediaries. A provider that combines local rails, stablecoin corridors, and named USD accounts gives those businesses a working alternative for the corridors the traditional network serves worst.
What should a buyer check before committing to one provider?
Corridor coverage against your actual flows, what happens at the fiat edges (which banking partners, what redundancy), compliance responsibilities on each side, pricing at your volumes rather than headline rates, and the exit path. Concentration is the recurring risk: a single provider, and behind it sometimes a single banking partner, carrying flows your business depends on.
Sources
- Conduit, Conduit raises $36M in Series A
- FinTech Futures, Stablecoin payments platform Conduit raises $36m Series A (2025)
- Conduit, homepage (products and rail coverage)
- BVNK, Why BVNK is joining Mastercard
- Stripe, Stripe completes Bridge acquisition (February 2025)
- BIS CPMI, New correspondent banking data: the decline continues (August 2020)
- World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide