Not One QvaPay Dollar to the Sanctioned Communist Regime
Sentinel screens every party in every flow against the world's sanctions lists before a dollar moves.
Tim Parsa · Co-Founder & CCO, QvaPay · 26 May 2026 · 4 min read Subscribe
The rule that makes QvaPay possible is simple: we never pay the Cuban state, and no one tied to it gets an account. Sentinel enforces it. It screens every holder, counterparty, peer, and beneficiary against the OFAC SDN List, the State Department's Cuba Restricted List, the prohibited officials and Party members of the Cuba rules, and the UN, EU, and UK lists. It fuzzy-matches spellings, because Cuban names are long and lists are inconsistent, and re-screens everyone after every list update. A possible match is held for our compliance officer; a confirmed one is blocked and reported to OFAC. Try it at sdn.qvapay.com ↗.
| Flow | Legitimate | Bad actor, and what Sentinel does |
|---|---|---|
| Remittances | A family sends money home every month. | The recipient is a senior Cuban official. Matched to the prohibited-officials list; never paid, account restricted. |
| Business accounts | A private workshop applies with its two owners. | One "owner" fronts for a conglomerate on the Restricted List. The account is never opened. |
| Exports | A bakery pays a U.S. exporter for an oven. | The consignee is a blocked state importer. Stopped and reported to OFAC. |
| Crypto | A sender pays in USDC from a personal wallet. | The address is on the SDN list. Never credited: blocked and reported to OFAC. |
At Uphold and Airtm, screening meant a vendor's list, a vendor's matching, and analysts clearing false positives one by one. Now we own the lists, the matching, and the record, and every case we clear tightens the rules.
Screening technology built by Cuban talent, run under U.S. law, keeps every dollar with the people building Cuba’s private economy. That rail can grow to the Dominican Republic’s rate per person and beyond.
Every flow here is screened at both ends, so the dollars reach families and private businesses, never the state.
| Flow | How we grow it | U.S. tech meets Cuban talent |
|---|---|---|
| Remittances Permitted · 31 CFR §515.570 (U.S. senders) | Marketing by use case to the diaspora in Miami and beyond; every sender and recipient screened. | Diaspora dollars become working capital for families and the private businesses they start. |
| MIPYME business accounts QvaPay's position · pending with OFAC (Case CU-2025-1426925-1) | MIPYME accounts marketed by use case, supported from our Miami HQ; financing for Cuban buyers once OFAC clarifies it. | Cuban entrepreneurs buy U.S. equipment and software and run their companies in dollars. |
| U.S. exports through Florida Export allowed (§515.533) · payment from a Cuban balance: QvaPay's reading, pending with OFAC | A logistics hub in Florida, close to the U.S. manufacturers and distributors we pay. | U.S. makers and distributors sell to Cuban workshops, farms, and clinics, U.S.-made goods first. |
| Crypto funding and withdrawals Own funds, screened addresses · withdrawals by persons in Cuba: pending with OFAC | USDC from and to screened wallets, settled by Crypto Teller. | Cubans hold dollars on a phone, the way the rest of the internet does. |
The potential. Remittances into Cuba run an estimated $1.1–2B a year (2024; estimates vary). At the Dominican Republic’s rate per person, Cuba would receive about $9.8B, five to nine times today. That is the market QvaPay is built to serve.
| Market | Cuba today | Cuba at the Dominican Republic’s rate per person |
|---|---|---|
| Remittances received | $1.1–2B 2024 est., estimates vary | $9.8B DR total $11.9B (2025) |
A scenario, not a forecast. The Dominican Republic received $11.9B in remittances in 2025 across 11.4 million people, about $1,040 a person; at that rate Cuba’s 9.43 million people would receive about $9.8B a year, five to nine times today. Method and sources.
Not one U.S. bank onboarded a Cuban entrepreneur under the 2024 rule, because OFAC never set a due-diligence standard. Legal authorization has little value if intermediaries won’t act on it. On cubanew.com ↗
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