Linguard Labs takes majority stake in El Salvador's Chivo, promises free US remittances
What's the deal? Linguard LabsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has acquired a majority stake in ChivoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, El Salvador's state-backed digital wallet, under a public-private partnership announced with the government, which remains a shareholder. The relaunched platform will offer free remittances from the US and credit access to banked and unbanked Salvadorans alike. The deal value was undisclosed.
What each side brings: Chivo is El Salvador's largest digital financial platform, with more than 4,500,000 registered accounts; existing users keep their balances. Linguard Labs builds compliance and verification infrastructure for digital finance, led by former executives from Visa, JPMorgan ChaseDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Citi.
What's the endgame? The companies want to make Chivo the standard for financial inclusion in El Salvador, then expand across Latin America. The revamped wallet will let eligible users hold funds, send, spend, borrow, and move between dollars and digital assets.
What's new in the product? Chivo will offer microloans and merchant cash advances underwritten on what a user earns, sends, and pays in the app — not a bank record. Users can pay merchants in Bitcoin, dollars, stablecoins, or other supported assets and earn cash back, with debit cards extending that balance anywhere cards are accepted.
Why now? Salvadorans abroad sent nearly $10 billion home in 2025 and paid fees on almost every dollar, per the companies. On the new Chivo, US-to-El Salvador transfers will be free for Regular users.
The quote: "Cheaper remittance fees are not a win. Free is," said Drew Weinstein, founder and CEO of Linguard Labs.
The signal: The deal, which the partners say aligns with El Salvador's International Monetary Fund program, folds a government crypto experiment into private hands while keeping the state as shareholder and data regulator. It positions Chivo as a template for blending remittances, credit, and digital assets across Latin America's large unbanked population.
Read more: streetinsider.com
Image credit: AMISOM Public Information
