Stranger-to-Stranger Forex in Havana
In 2020 I argued P2P money would go mainstream like Airbnb and Uber. Cuba got there first.
Tim Parsa · Co-Founder & CCO, QvaPay · 21 July 2026 · 3 min read Subscribe
In November 2020 I wrote Scaling Stranger-to-Stranger Services ↗. Airbnb and Uber had proved software can coordinate strangers in markets that licensed incumbents swore they owned. My argument: peer-to-peer forex would follow, because it creates value and jobs and can be as safe and taxable as the legacy option.
Adoption follows pain
Uber looked pointless to New Yorkers with a taxi on every corner but a revelation on San Francisco's hills. Airtm bored fintech investors and rescued Venezuelan savings. Few places suffer more from bad money than Cuba, which is why QvaPay's peer market grew without a marketing budget.
The hustle bundle is already Cuban
I imagined Airbnb hosts and Uber drivers trading currency on the side. In Cuba it already has: the casa particular owner, the driver with a '56 Chevy, the developer selling code to Texas. Many are QvaPay peers, earning the spread while they run their businesses.
The difference is U.S. law
Localbitcoins pushed legal risk onto its traders. Airtm started compliant in the United States. QvaPay goes further: a FinCEN-registered money services business, a written program, every account that moves money verified and screened, the whole ledger monitored daily, and a pending request to OFAC for guidance on the peer exchange itself, with no authorization asserted. The competition is with the Cuban state's monopoly on money. The compliance is with U.S. law.
Strangers serving strangers, coordinated by U.S. software, under U.S. law. It worked for rooms and rides. In Cuba it's working for money.
The peer market is how strangers in Havana trade dollars and pesos safely.
| Flow | How we grow it | U.S. tech meets Cuban talent |
|---|---|---|
| P2P forex Pending with OFAC · no authorization asserted | SkyMind matches orders and more screened traders join. | Every trader is a small business: Cubans earn a spread connecting dollars and pesos. |
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.
Cuba’s private and state sectors live in “two parallel universes”: one at 24 pesos to the dollar, the other at the market rate. On cubanew.com ↗
Sources
If this was useful, pass it to someone building in Cuba.