Bleap raises £4.36m to enable instant, low-cost cross-border payments using stablecoins
This article covers Bleap, a fintech startup, which has raised £4.36m ($6m) in a growth funding round led by Blossom Capital to expand a self-custodial financial account that uses stablecoins and blockchain settlement. The funding will be used to scale the startup's product to support faster, lower-cost cross-border payments and broaden consumer access to digital asset services in Europe and Latin America.
Bleap, a fintech startup, has raised £4.36m ($6m) in a growth funding round led by Blossom Capital to expand a self-custodial financial account that uses stablecoins and blockchain settlement. The funding follows a £1.7m pre-seed in late 2024 and comes as Bleap reports more than 20,000 users and over £21.8m in transactions processed in 2025, signalling investor interest in faster, lower-cost cross-border payments.
Why it matters
Bleap’s pitch addresses a persistent gap in retail finance: modern user interfaces built on slow, permissioned settlement systems. If its model — using stablecoins as the settlement layer to support instant, low-cost transfers and fee-free asset purchases — gains broader adoption, it could change how everyday cross-border payments and digital asset access are delivered to consumers.
The company’s growth metrics are notable for an early-stage entrant: tens of thousands of users and tens of millions of pounds in annual transaction volume suggest product-market fit around international transfers and low-cost spending. The approach also raises regulatory and operational questions that are increasingly relevant in the UK and Europe as regulators consider stablecoin frameworks and cross-border payment standards.
Inside the product
Bleap describes its product as a self-custodial financial account with a single balance that users can spend globally without foreign exchange markups. Key features the company highlights:
- Instant cross-border transfers and remittances using stablecoins as the settlement layer.
- No FX markups for spending in different currencies.
- Cashback paid directly in stablecoins.
- Fee-free purchases of digital assets already live, with fee-free trading features due to roll out inside the app.
- Ability to earn yield while maintaining control of funds.
The startup frames blockchain not as an add-on but as the underlying settlement rail. That architecture aims to remove intermediaries that add cost or latency, while keeping a familiar consumer experience on top.
Who are the investors?
The round was led by Blossom Capital. No further investor names were disclosed in the announcement. The funding will be used to scale the product across Europe and Latin America and to accelerate product development following Bleap’s £1.7m pre-seed in late 2024.
If you're researching potential backers in this space:
- Explore our list of fintech venture capital firms in the UK
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Founder perspective
Bleap was founded by Joao Alves and Guilherme Gomes after building products at Revolut. The founders say improved user experience across the industry did not address underlying settlement frictions.
In the announcement, Joao Alves, co-founder at Bleap, said:
The interfaces got better, but underneath, money is still moving on systems built decades ago. That’s where most of the friction comes from.
The company positions itself as an account that money will move into as finance evolves, emphasising control, instant settlement and a roadmap towards supporting tokenised real-world assets.
The bigger picture
Bleap’s model sits at the intersection of fintech and crypto infrastructure trends: consumer-facing wallets and accounts built on token settlement. That thesis has both product and policy implications. Product-wise, it promises cheaper, faster cross-border flows and a path to on-ramps for tokenised assets. Policy-wise, the approach operates in a shifting regulatory environment for stablecoins and custody in the UK, Europe and Latin America.
Bleap’s expansion plans will test demand across different regulatory regimes and competing propositions from established fintech firms. Its progress will be an indicator of whether stablecoin-based settlement can move from niche use cases to mainstream consumer finance.
This funding round is another signal of momentum for UK fintech innovation, and it underscores growing investor interest in technologies that attempt to rewire payments and settlement across borders in Europe and beyond.
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