UAE based REMI to build confidential Blockchain for payments

UAE-based fintech REMI has secured funding from the Stellar Community Fund to develop its own confidential blockchain settlement layer for regulated financial institutions.

Remi is a borderless liquidity infrastructure network that enables instant, transparent and compliant global money movement across high friction, high volume corridors, bridging traditional finance and digital assets while improving access to financial services in emerging markets.

The grant, worth approximately $135,000, will support REMI’s plans to build on the Stellar network, targeting banks, exchange houses and payment service providers that need faster cross-border settlement without exposing sensitive transaction data publicly.

REMI said the funding will be used to create a confidential settlement infrastructure that keeps transaction amounts and balances encrypted on-chain, while maintaining visibility for authorised auditors and regulators when required.

The project addresses one of the main barriers facing regulated institutions exploring blockchain-based settlement: public blockchains are transparent by design, meaning payment amounts, balances and counterparties can be visible to the wider market.

For banks and other regulated financial players, that level of visibility can create commercial and compliance concerns. REMI aims to solve this by combining transaction privacy with built-in supervision, rather than forcing institutions to choose between confidentiality and regulatory oversight.

Building blockchain rails for regulated settlement

Under the planned architecture, REMI’s blockchain layer will use zero-knowledge proofs to confirm that transfers are valid without revealing the underlying figures. The system is also expected to include auditor viewing keys, allowing authorised parties to access specific transactions when needed.

The company said this would make oversight part of the protocol itself, while selective disclosure would allow one transaction to be reviewed without opening the rest of the account history to public view.

REMI also plans to sponsor network fees in the background, meaning users of the settlement infrastructure would not need to hold or interact with crypto directly at the edges of the payment flow.

Why Stellar

REMI said Stellar was selected because of its focus on payments, low-cost settlement and cross-border money movement. The Stellar Community Fund, supported by the Stellar Development Foundation, backs developers and companies building applications and infrastructure on the network.

Alongside the settlement layer, the grant will also support open tooling for regulated operators, including dashboards, a sponsored-transaction relayer, a client software development kit and published cost benchmarks.

Other REMI developments

The funding follows other recent activity from REMI around confidential payments and cross-border remittance infrastructure. Earlier this month, the company announced the launch of the REMI Research Center, which is focused on privacy-preserving digital payments and confidential stablecoin transfers.

According to the company’s Stellar Community Fund submission, REMI has also been building a broader regulated financial network, with UAE and Egypt entities live, integrations underway across markets including Morocco and Canada, and partner onboarding planned across exchange houses, banks, crypto exchanges and banking-as-a-service fintechs.

What comes next

REMI will move the confidential settlement layer from testnet toward mainnet, while developing operational dashboards and compliance tools designed for financial institutions rather than only technical users.

Tony Amer, Co-founder and CEO of REMI, said confidential settlement is something regulated institutions have been asking for but could not access without giving up compliance. He added that the Stellar Community Fund’s backing would help the company close that gap.