The payment rails for crypto-native finance
XiWire is a crypto payment gateway built for forex brokers and high-risk merchants. We earn a take rate on every deposit and withdrawal, a recurring, high-margin model that scales directly with our clients’ volume.
The thesis
Why now, and why XiWire
Four shifts have converged to make crypto the default rail for trading-related payments, and XiWire is positioned exactly where they meet.
Card rails fail high-risk merchants
Forex, prop firms, iGaming and high-risk e-commerce are routinely de-banked or charged 3–5% with constant chargeback exposure. They need a payment alternative that actually works.
Stablecoins went mainstream
USDT and USDC settlement is now the default for cross-border trading flows, fast, final, dollar-denominated, and immune to chargebacks.
Brokers want to own their rails
Custodial third-party processors hold a broker’s funds, data and customer relationship. XiWire keeps custody and branding with the broker.
Distribution already exists
XiWire is built inside Brokeret, with direct relationships across the forex-broker market, a warm acquisition channel from day one.
The problem
Trading businesses cannot get paid
Every alternative available to a forex broker or high-risk merchant today is broken in a different way.
Traditional processors
Block or off-board trading and high-risk merchants. 2.5–5% fees, rolling reserves, and chargebacks that never end.
Building it in-house
Wallet infrastructure, sweeps, key security and reconciliation take a year of specialist engineering, and the regulatory and security risk never goes away.
Generic crypto gateways
Custodial third parties that hold the funds, own the customer data, and were never designed for the workflows of a forex or prop-trading business.
The product
A complete gateway, already built
XiWire is not a concept. The platform is built, the monetization layer is coded, and the API is shipped. Capital accelerates go-to-market, not core engineering.
Multi-chain wallet infrastructure
HD wallets across Bitcoin, Ethereum and TRON, covering 20+ assets including USDT, USDC and major stablecoins.
Invoice & deposit engine
A unique, persistent deposit address per end-user, with automatic detection and confirmation tracking.
Automated withdrawals & sweeps
Just-in-time sweeping and signed withdrawals across all chains, no manual treasury operations.
Built-in fee & ledger engine
A double-entry ledger and tiered fee engine. The monetization layer is already shipped, not a roadmap item.
KYC & compliance
Integrated identity verification with webhook-driven account activation and a full audit trail.
Developer API & webhooks
A REST API with signed webhooks, idempotency keys and a sandbox. Brokers integrate in days, not quarters.
Market
A fee pool measured in hundreds of millions
XiWire’s revenue is a take rate on payment volume. The market is best sized as the annual fee pool it can capture.
Assumes ~$50B/yr of deposits + withdrawals across forex, prop, iGaming and high-risk merchants moving to crypto rails, at a ~0.7% take rate.
The share in crypto-friendly jurisdictions and the verticals XiWire already supports.
A realistic 3-year capture: roughly 3% of the fee pool, or ~110 mid-size clients.
Market figures are illustrative models built on the stated assumptions, not third-party research estimates.
Business model
A take rate on every transaction
XiWire makes money the way a payment processor does, a small percentage of every deposit and every withdrawal that flows through it. The broker pays; revenue is recurring and scales with their volume.
Tiered transaction fees
Charged on both deposits and withdrawals. Larger transactions step down automatically. Competitive for whales, full margin on the retail long tail.
| Transaction size | Deposit | Withdrawal |
|---|---|---|
| $0 – $10,000 | 1.00% | 1.00% |
| $10,000 – $50,000 | 0.75% | 0.75% |
| $50,000+ | 0.50% | 0.50% |
Volume tiers, per-client negotiated rates and time-boxed promotional discounts are all built in, a full pricing toolkit controlled from the admin panel with no code changes.
Four ways XiWire earns
Transaction fees are the engine; the rest add margin and resilience.
A tiered fee, from 1.0% down to 0.5%, on every deposit and every withdrawal. Recurring, volume-based, charged on both sides of the flow.
A one-time setup fee per broker ($500 corporate, free for individuals). Covers compliance review and qualifies serious clients.
Infrastructure is built to pass blockchain gas costs to clients, a dormant lever that fully insulates margin from gas spikes.
A self-hosted, full-custody deployment for the largest brokers, sold as an annual license instead of a take rate.
Financial model
Three-year revenue path
Revenue ≈ blended take rate (~0.7%) × total payment volume. Three scenarios from the same engine; the base case is modeled, the conservative line still supports the raise.
| Year | Clients | Volume (base) | Conservative | Base (modeled) | Stretch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | ~12 | $12M / mo | $0.7M | $1.0M | $1.5M |
| Year 2 | ~45 | $55M / mo | $2.9M | $4.6M | $6.7M |
| Year 3 | ~110 | $145M / mo | $7.6M | $12.2M | $19.3M |
ARR figures are illustrative projections with stated assumptions, not forecasts, guarantees, or commitments. Client counts and volumes are inputs to be replaced with live pipeline data.
Why the margin is exceptional
On stablecoin and TRON flow, the bulk of volume. Gas is a small, near-fixed cost per transaction.
The headline 1.0% compresses across volume tiers and negotiated rates as the client base diversifies.
Fees settle in liquid stablecoins within hours, no 30-day receivables or processor hold periods.
Costs are mostly fixed. Once covered, incremental volume flows almost straight to gross profit.
Growth plan
How XiWire scales revenue
The fee engine is the same regardless of who generates the volume, so growth is a distribution problem, and distribution is the asset XiWire starts with.
Brokeret channel
Warm introductions into an existing network of forex brokers, the fastest, cheapest path to the first cohort of clients.
Vertical expansion
The fee engine is vertical-agnostic. Prop firms, iGaming, marketplaces and high-risk e-commerce all monetize identically, no new code.
Land & expand
Revenue grows automatically as each client’s payment volume grows. Net revenue retention with zero upsell motion.
Partnerships
Introducing brokers, broker-tech vendors and white-label resellers extend distribution beyond the direct sales team.
Competition
Why XiWire wins the broker
Card processors reject this market. Generic crypto gateways take custody and the customer relationship. XiWire was purpose-built for the gap between them.
| Dimension | XiWire | Card processors | Generic crypto gateways |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approves forex / high-risk | Built for it | Frequently off-boarded | Varies, often custodial |
| Effective fee | 0.5 – 1.0% | 2.5 – 5%+ & reserves | 0.5 – 1%+ spread |
| Chargeback exposure | None, crypto is final | High | None |
| Custody & customer data | Stays with the broker | N/A | Held by the processor |
| Settlement speed | Minutes to hours | T+2 to T+7 | Varies |
| White-label / own brand | Included | No | Rare |
| Multi-chain coverage | BTC, ETH, TRON +20 assets | N/A | Varies |
| Built for broker workflows | Yes, Brokeret heritage | No | Generic |
The ask
$750,000 pre-seed for 15% equity
Raised on a SAFE or priced round at a $4.25M pre-money valuation. The round funds roughly 18 months of runway, enough to reach a Series-A-ready revenue base. We favour partners who bring broker, IB or fintech distribution alongside capital.
How the valuation is set
A $4.25M pre-money is a fair pre-seed mark, supported from three independent angles.
Where pre-seed crypto-payment infrastructure with a live product typically prices.
Roughly 5× the Year-1 base-case ARR of $1.0M, a conservative entry multiple.
A shipped platform, a coded monetization layer and Brokeret distribution remove the usual pre-seed execution risk.
Use of funds
Weighted toward go-to-market and compliance, the product is already built.
Investor FAQ
The questions investors ask first
Honest, specific answers, no hedging.
Q.Isn’t crypto payments a crowded market?
The custodial gateways are crowded; the broker-native, self-custody segment is not. XiWire keeps funds, data and branding with the broker, and reaches the market through Brokeret’s existing relationships, a channel generic gateways do not have.
Q.What is the regulatory risk?
Real, and we treat it as such. 20% of the raise is allocated to compliance and licensing. XiWire is payment infrastructure; the broker holds the end-user relationship and runs its own KYC. The strategy is a multi-jurisdiction footprint and a stablecoin-first focus.
Q.Why would brokers switch?
They are being de-banked or charged 3–5% by card processors today. XiWire is cheaper, settles in hours, carries no chargeback risk, and lets them keep custody. The switching incentive is strong and immediate.
Q.How do you land the first clients?
Through Brokeret’s existing network of forex brokers, warm introductions, not cold outbound. That is the difference between a 6-month and an 18-month path to first revenue.
Q.What if a competitor cuts fees?
Gross margin above 90% leaves ample headroom, but price is not the only moat. The self-custody model, broker-specific workflows and the Brokeret channel are not things a generic processor can copy by lowering a number.
Q.Is $12.2M Year-3 ARR realistic?
It is the base case, not the ceiling, roughly 3% of a conservatively-sized fee pool, reached with ~110 mid-size clients. The conservative line ($7.6M) still comfortably supports the raise.
Q.What could kill this business?
A blanket ban on crypto for trading-related deposits in major markets. Mitigation: a multi-jurisdiction footprint, a stablecoin focus, and the fact that the underlying rails are neutral infrastructure used far beyond trading.
Q.Where is the exit?
Acquisition by a payment processor moving into crypto, a larger crypto-payments firm, or a broker-technology consolidator, or a Series A into continued independent growth.
Let’s talk about the round
Walk through the full model, the data room and the roadmap. The pitch deck is the fastest place to start.