A LatAm telecom operator is putting part of its finances on Avalanche

VIVA, a telecom that has operated in Bolivia for more than 25 years and recently expanded into Mexico, has begun using Iris to settle transactions and hold eligible operating reserves in a U.S. dollar stablecoin. The carrier is the first live participant on Iris, which aims to let telecom operators offer payments and other financial services by integrating their existing identity, billing and distribution systems with the network rather than replacing core infrastructure.

Iris is led by Jules Miller, who previously helped launch IBM’s blockchain venture efforts. The network runs on a dedicated Avalanche Layer 1 and uses USDi — a dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Agora — as the settlement asset. For operators in markets with volatile local currencies, the ability to settle and hold part of their reserves in dollars via a stablecoin is a key selling point.

The project debuted with a $43 million commitment from Balesia Group, a family office with telecom interests across the Americas. Iris positions telecom operators to capture more of the economic value created by data growth and their distribution reach: Iris executives cite McKinsey figures showing global mobile data traffic grew at over 50% annually between 2012 and 2025 while operator service revenues rose by less than 1% per year.

Ava Labs’ chief business officer said the model is focused on emerging markets where mobile carriers often serve as primary rails for consumer activity, noting early commercial results from a VIVA super-app that the firm said reduced prepaid customer churn by about a third and raised lifetime value by roughly a third. Iris and its partners are discussing additional carrier integrations as they look to expand in Latin America and other markets where telecom-led financial services may gain traction.

The deployment follows other enterprises bringing corporate flows onto Avalanche, including trade receivables and internal remittances at large firms, and reflects a broader push to move established business processes onchain while keeping blockchain interactions invisible to end customers. Iris emphasizes enterprise integration and real-world business needs rather than token-first projects as it scales its network and service offerings to more carriers.