Peanut Protocol

Market position

Positions itself against traditional neobanks and remittance channels for cross-border users, and against Visa and Mastercard on merchant acceptance pricing.

Combines non-custodial self-custody and passkey-based biometric authorization with access to local payment networks, so users can transact like locals without a local ID or bank account. KYC is required only for features that need it, such as bank connections and the card, rather than for everyday peer-to-peer transfers, and identity documents are retained by an external verification provider instead of Peanut. Transfers are advertised at 0% fees with gas covered on deposits.

Technology

Funds are held in self-custodied ERC-4337 smart accounts rather than on Peanut servers, making the service fully non-custodial. Every transaction is authorized by a biometric passkey using Face ID, Touch ID or a device passcode; the passkey is sealed in the phone's Secure Enclave, never exported, and secured with NIST-recommended P-256 elliptic-curve cryptography. Peanut's servers never hold the private key, and compliance requests see only cryptographic and encrypted signatures. Because the account is ERC-4337 compatible, users can point any compatible wallet at their smart account to recover access if Peanut were unavailable. Identity verification, where required, is handled by third-party provider Sumsub, which is SOC 2 Type 2 certified, ISO 27001 certified and GDPR compliant; Peanut receives only a yes/no result.

Go-to-market

Direct-to-consumer sign-up on the web with a waitlist mechanism for the card, social proof via a Twitter/X testimonial wall, and a self-reported base of more than 10,000 users. Access to skip the card waitlist is offered through a dedicated page (peanut.me/shhhhh). Local payment-network integrations are delivered through licensed banking and payments partners.

Individuals living or working across borders, including people rejected by neobank verification when they relocate, migrants sending remittances home (framed against typical 4% transaction costs), and workers who earn in one currency and spend in another. Marketing highlights Latin American cities including Buenos Aires, São Paulo and Florianópolis, alongside corridors such as New York, Madrid and Mexico City.

Geography

Advertises reach across 140+ countries and 50+ currencies. Bank and local payment rails are live for the United States (ACH, Wire), the euro area via SEPA (36 countries), the United Kingdom (Faster Payments), Mexico (SPEI), Argentina (Mercado Pago) and Brazil (Pix). Consumer messaging emphasizes Latin American markets, notably Argentina and Brazil.