Trace Finance Wins Grand Prix at the 2026 Money Awards for Transforming Cross-Border Payments Through Regulated Infrastructure
Selected by an independent global jury of 41 senior leaders from institutions including J.P. Morgan, Citi, ING, U.S.
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Trace Finance, a regulated financial infrastructure company for cross-border payments and stablecoin settlement, today announced it has been named a Grand Prix winner at the 2026 Money Awards. The Grand Prix is the highest accolade in the program and sits above all other awarded work. Trace won the Growth Stage Startup award within the Payments & Commerce category for its entry, Transforming Cross-Border Payments Through Regulated Infrastructure.
The award was presented on Sunday, October 18, at Sunday Night Live x The Money Awards on The Exchange Stage at The Venetian, in front of more than 1,600 industry leaders attending Money20/20 USA. Trace was one of a select group of Grand Prix honorees this year, alongside companies including Privy, a Stripe company, and bolttech.
The jury recognized Trace’s approach to a problem that has held back stablecoin adoption in cross-border business payments: digital dollars move instantly, but enterprises still need compliant local execution, banking connectivity, FX handling and licensing on the ground. Trace built that stack first in Brazil, one of the most operationally complex FX and compliance environments in the world, and now operates under its own licenses in the U.S. and Brazil, with partner banks in Mexico, Colombia, Europe and Asia. The company has processed more than US$15B in institutional cross-border volume and is the main provider for the top four global payment providers operating in LatAm, including dLocal.
That model has gained weight as regulators tighten the perimeter. Brazil now classifies virtual asset cross-border flows as foreign exchange operations, and earlier this year its Central Bank moved against fund-based structures used to route stablecoin flows outside FX rules. Trace never used those structures, and institutional volume continues to shift toward bank-grade, licensed infrastructure.
“Stablecoins alone do not solve cross-border payments. Stablecoins plus regulated local bank infrastructure does,” said Bernardo Brites, co-founder and CEO of Trace Finance. “We chose to build inside the regulatory perimeter from day one, market by market and bank by bank, because that’s what institutions moving real volume need. Being recognized with the Grand Prix on Money20/20’s biggest stage tells us the industry sees regulation the way we do: as infrastructure, not friction. This belongs to our team and to the partners who trust us with their flows every day.”
The Grand Prix caps a strong year for Trace. In June, the company raised a $32 million Series A led by CoinFund, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Haun Ventures, Jump Capital, Valor Capital, Paxos, HOF Capital and others. Trace is using the funding to scale with large global enterprises, deepen its FX, bank connectivity, compliance and stablecoin settlement capabilities, and extend its regulated footprint across LatAm, the U.S., APAC and other priority jurisdictions. New settlement products built on its regulated banking infrastructure are in development.
About Trace Finance
Trace Finance is a regulated financial infrastructure company powering cross-border payments, banking connectivity, FX and stablecoin settlement across Brazil, the United States and emerging markets worldwide. The company combines local payment rails, Pix connectivity, compliance operations, banking infrastructure and stablecoin-enabled settlement to help enterprises, fintechs, exchanges, payment companies and global platforms move money through complex markets at institutional scale. Trace has processed more than US$15B in institutional cross-border volume and is the main provider for the top 4 global payment providers operating in LatAm, including dLocal. The company is backed by CoinFund, Coinbase Ventures, Haun Ventures, Jump Capital, Polymorphic, Chainlink Labs, SNZ Capital, Kadan Capital, HOF Capital, Clocktower, FJ Labs, Paxos, Animoca Brands, and others. The Series A follows Trace’s 2022 seed round, led by HOF Capital with participation from Circle Ventures, Mantis VC (The Chainsmokers), and others. Learn more at tracefinance.com.
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