Linguard Labs acquires a majority stake in Chivo, with the government of El Salvador remaining a shareholder and partner. The new Chivo will bring free remittances from the U.S. and credit access to Salvadorans, banked and unbanked alike.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The government of El Salvador and Linguard Labs today announced a public-private partnership to relaunch Chivo as a complete financial platform for Salvadorans wherever they reside. Linguard Labs has acquired a majority stake in Chivo; the government remains a shareholder. The transaction is consistent with El Salvador's International Monetary Fund program.
The new Chivo is being built in San Salvador, in partnership with some of the world's largest financial services and crypto companies. The goal: make Chivo the standard for financial inclusion in El Salvador and across Latin America.
With more than 4.5 million registered accounts, Chivo is already the largest digital financial platform in El Salvador. Existing users keep their accounts and balances. What will change is what Chivo can do.
"We are honored that the government of El Salvador chose Linguard Labs as its partner to reimagine Chivo. We did not take this on for small wins. Cheaper remittance fees are not a win. Free is. Making credit available to Salvadorans, banked or unbanked, is a win. A new era of financial inclusion begins today in El Salvador and will spread across Latin America," said Drew Weinstein, founder and CEO of Linguard Labs.
Financial inclusion across El Salvador.
Millions of unbanked and underbanked Salvadorans live outside the financial system. The new Chivo is built on a secure platform with strong compliance controls, so eligible Salvadorans with compatible phones and valid IDs can hold funds, send, spend, borrow, and move between dollars and digital assets.
Credit built on real life, not a bank record.
For millions of Salvadorans without a banking history, credit has been out of reach. The new Chivo will change what counts: microloans and cash advances underwritten based on what a user earns, sends, and pays in Chivo. Merchants will be able to access financing, including merchant cash advances to buy inventory, hire, and expand.
Remittances for Chivo’s Regular users will be free. Not just cheaper.
Salvadorans abroad sent almost $10 billion home in 2025 and paid fees on nearly every dollar. On Chivo, sending money from the U.S. to El Salvador will be free for Regular users.
Pay any way you like. Get cash back.
Chivo users will pay at participating merchants across El Salvador straight from their wallet, in Bitcoin, dollars, stablecoins, or other supported digital assets while earning cash back on purchases. Debit cards will take that balance everywhere cards are accepted.
Your money. Your data. All protected by the government of El Salvador.
Chivo operates under El Salvador's laws on data protection, governance, and financial stability, and user information remains protected under those laws and under the supervision of the relevant authorities.
About Linguard Labs
Linguard Labs builds trust infrastructure for digital finance, with security, interoperability, and regulatory compliance at its core. Its leadership includes former executives from Visa, JPMorgan Chase, Citi, and other global financial institutions. Linguard’s technology verifies users, merchants, and transactions, so the financial industry and global companies can serve customers more securely and efficiently. Learn more at linguardlabs.com.
Contacts
Media contact: comunicaciones@mig.com.sv