VIVA Partners with Iris for Financial Services
By Krisztian Sandor|Edited by Jamie CrawleyUpdated 45 min agoPublished 1 hr ago3 min readMake preferred on ShareShare this articleCopy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmailMake preferred on Jules Miller, CEO of Iris (Iris)SummaryShow- The Bolivian telecom company VIVA is the inaugural carrier to launch on Iris, an Avalanche-based network designed for transaction settlement and dollar reserves.
- Iris, under the leadership of former IBM Blockchain partner Jules Miller, enables telecom operators to integrate their existing systems into new financial services without overhauling their infrastructure.
- Emerging markets, where mobile operators significantly influence consumers' financial interactions, are the primary focus for the network’s rollout, according to John Nahas, chief business officer at Ava Labs.
VIVA, a telecommunications operator with over 25 years in Bolivia and recent expansion into Mexico, is utilizing Iris to facilitate financial transactions and enhance its services. The company is employing USDi, a dollar-pegged stablecoin provided by stablecoin infrastructure firm Agora, for transaction settlements and to maintain dollar reserves instead of local currency.
Leading the Iris network is Jules Miller, who previously worked as a partner at IBM Blockchain Ventures.
"Iris serves as the financial network for telecom companies," Miller explained in a conversation with CoinDesk. Carriers can seamlessly integrate their identity, billing, and distribution systems into Iris, providing new services and conducting transactions in U.S. dollars without needing to replace their core operations.
“We have made significant investments in modernizing our network to bring our customers into the digital economy,” said VIVA CEO Ryan Alvarez. “Iris allows us to generate new revenue from that investment and evolve into a platform without having to replace our existing systems.”
The launch of Iris is supported by a $43 million investment from Balesia Group, a family office with interests in telecommunications across the Americas. This investment reflects a broader strategy to enable carriers to leverage the economic benefits of the infrastructure they have developed over decades.
According to McKinsey data referenced by Iris, global mobile data traffic has surged by over 50% annually from 2012 to 2025, while operator service revenue has seen less than 1% annual growth.
Telecom companies possess customer access, verified identities, and distribution channels, which financial applications often struggle to establish.
This is particularly advantageous in emerging markets.
“In the U.S., operators are just one of many options,” remarked John Nahas from Ava Labs. In contrast, “in Bolivia and similar markets, mobile carriers often serve as the primary means for consumers to conduct their financial activities.”
Thus, Iris is concentrating its initial expansion efforts on Latin America and possibly regions in Africa and Asia, rather than the U.S., according to Nahas.
VIVA's integration with Iris is an early indicator of the potential for improved financial outcomes for carriers. Nahas noted that a super-app offered by VIVA has successfully reduced customer churn among prepaid users by 33% while increasing their lifetime value by 35%.
“Seeing these metrics makes a strong case,” he added, suggesting that Iris now requires additional real-world examples to validate its model.
Utilizing Stablecoins in Telecom
Iris operates on a specialized Layer 1 of Avalanche, providing the network with control over settlement and compliance needs. USDi is utilized as the settlement asset, allowing VIVA to hold dollar reserves where applicable.
For VIVA, employing a U.S. dollar stablecoin for transactions means the ability to maintain dollar reserves, which is particularly useful in markets with unstable local currencies.
This deployment follows other corporate implementations of Avalanche technology. South Korean trading giant POSCO has recently integrated trade receivables into the network, and Hyundai has developed a stablecoin-based internal remittance system utilizing U.S. dollar and USDT
USDT$0.9995 for transactions between its U.S. and Mexico operations, now nearing production readiness.According to Nahas from Ava Labs, this initiative is part of a larger movement to transition established businesses onto blockchain while minimizing customer visibility of the technology. Telecom accounts can effectively function as wallets, enabling dollar transactions via stablecoins while financial products operate in the background.
Miller expressed her commitment to identifying "genuine businesses that require blockchain solutions," rather than projects that prioritize token issuance without a clear business application.
Iris is currently in discussions with additional telecom providers worldwide to expand its network and service offerings, she noted.