Cross-border payments can be costly and complex, creating friction for businesses moving money internationally. Fintech startups like UnblockPay are tackling this by building faster, more streamlined payment infrastructure.
We spoke with Fabio Thiele, UnblockPay’s co-founder, about his journey from investment banking to fintech and how the company’s stablecoin platform is simplifying cross-border payments. He also shared insights on how this innovation could transform M&A funding and settlements in the future.
Q: Can you tell me how you first got involved in finance?
I began my career at a German fintech startup called Better Payment. I really enjoyed the feeling of ownership, knowing that my contribution could have a significant impact for clients.
But while startups provide a great learning environment, they tend not to offer a structured career path, and my brother encouraged me to consider a career in corporate finance.
I took part in a competition organized by a leading investment bank where each team had to build and defend a case for M&A under pressure. It was fun as well as challenging, and I knew this was what I wanted in a career.
So, I moved into M&A advisory at Heineken and Aegon Holding in the Netherlands, before joining BNP Paribas in Madrid.
Q: Looking back on your time at BNP, what experiences have shaped your career path?
Some of my most valuable experiences were when the pressure was greatest. At the time, it felt relentless, but it taught me to multitask effectively. I also developed a core toolkit of corporate finance skills, ranging from communication and project management to making financial models and crafting engaging presentations.
Just as importantly, I learned that grit and collaboration with smart, driven teammates can truly move mountains. It’s similar to the way that professionals in Formula 1 work together in small and high-performing teams to get the job done!
Q: You co-founded UnblockPay to make stablecoin payments easier. How would you explain what your company does to someone new to this space?
UnblockPay is a payment and banking infrastructure provider that enables fintechs and financial institutions to send and receive payments more efficiently. Our clients can offer dollar accounts through wallets, automate their foreign exchange (FX) flows, and settle transactions faster and more cost-effectively than with traditional payment methods.
We help fintechs, neobanks, PSPs, and FX houses from Europe and the US to move money in and out of Latin America by handling regulatory complexity, liquidity, banking licenses, and local payment rails.
Q: How did your time in investment banking influence how you approached building the platform?
It showed me how much friction exists in global financial systems, whether that’s regulatory complexity, high transaction margins, or long settlement delays. It also taught me to think in terms of scale, compliance, and institutional-grade standards.
At UnblockPay, we’ve been applying that mindset to build something fast-moving and enterprise-ready, without cutting corners on security or regulation. We work closely with lawyers, auditors, partners, and investors to ensure our infrastructure meets the highest standards.
Q: What skills did you find most useful from your time in banking, and which have you had to learn on the fly?
Banking gave me the basics of finance and consulting. Skills like structured thinking, clear communication, building business plans with clients, and managing multiple stakeholders have all been incredibly useful in my current role.
But as a founder, you’re constantly facing uncertainty, whether it’s finding product-market fit, signing your first clients, fundraising, or navigating complex regulations. A founder has to make decisions quickly and without the structure and support that you get in banking.
No two days are ever the same, and that’s what makes it so exciting.
Q: How is fintech, especially platforms using stablecoins and local payment rails, changing the way M&A deals are funded or closed?
The use of stablecoins and smart contract-based escrow accounts is opening up exciting new possibilities in M&A. It enables programmable conditions for payment settlements, earn-outs, and performance bonuses, automatically triggered by predefined financial or operational milestones. It offers a faster, more transparent, and cost-efficient alternative to traditional escrows by reducing reliance on intermediaries and manual processes.
That said, it’s still early days. As the tokenization of funds and assets evolves, I expect to see more developments in 2026, not just in how deals are closed, but also how capital is managed post-transaction. For example, capital calls and distributions in PE schemes could be executed programmatically via stablecoins, ensuring near-instant settlement, improved auditability, and global reach.
This shift has the potential to improve how capital is raised, deployed, and returned.
Q: Do you think innovations like stablecoin payments will become standard in M&A, especially for international deals?
Yes, particularly for cross-border transactions, where traditional rails are outdated and often inefficient. As regulatory clarity improves and more institutional players become comfortable with digital assets, stablecoins could be relied on to complement or even replace traditional settlement methods.
However, the real disruption will be the tokenization of real-world assets: PE shares, fund units, or even full legal entities as instantly transferable tokens, automated directly on the blockchain. This could dramatically reduce friction in both primary and secondary issuances, cutting costs and timelines associated with legal paperwork, intermediaries, and post-trade reconciliation.
Capital calls, distributions, and shareholder rights could be executed automatically via smart contracts, reshaping how ownership and liquidity work in private markets.
Q: How are traditional finance firms approaching crypto payments or stablecoins? Are they investing, partnering, or still cautious?
There’s been a noticeable shift. Just six months ago, when we first started, most traditional financial institutions knew very little about stablecoins.
Now, nearly all of them are actively exploring how to engage with the technology while carefully managing their risk exposure. The focus has shifted to practical use cases, such as reducing working capital needs for corporate clients in foreign currencies or reducing settlement cycles in cross-border payments.
As regulatory clarity improves globally, through frameworks like MiCA in Europe and the GENIUS and STABLE acts in the US, I expect traditional financial firms to become key enablers of stablecoin adoption.
