AvianLabs Netherlands B.V.

AvianLabs Netherlands B.V. represents a pioneering approach to global payments, operating as the European subsidiary of Avian Labs Inc. and serving as the regulatory entity behind Sling Money, an innovative blockchain-powered international money transfer platform. Founded by seasoned technology executives with backgrounds at Facebook, Monzo Bank, and Deliveroo, the Amsterdam-based company has achieved significant regulatory recognition as one of only five Dutch companies to secure comprehensive MiCA authorization from the Netherlands Authority for Financial Markets.

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Note on fees: AvianLabs operates a freemium model where peer-to-peer transfers between Sling Money users are completely free, with revenue generated through small fees for adding money to the platform and converting between fiat currencies and stablecoins. These fees vary by country and payment method but target pricing at half or less than traditional money transfer services.

The company's unique self-custodial architecture enables users to maintain complete ownership and control over their digital assets while benefiting from blockchain-powered instant transfers. Built on Solana's high-performance infrastructure and utilizing regulated stablecoins including USDP, USDC, and EURC for European users, AvianLabs has created a global payments network that processes transfers in seconds rather than days while maintaining robust security and regulatory compliance standards.

Company History & Development

AvianLabs Netherlands B.V. emerged from the vision of Mike Hudack, a high school dropout turned Silicon Valley veteran, and Simon Amor, an accomplished product designer, who recognized a fundamental disconnect between the instant, global nature of digital communication and the antiquated infrastructure underlying international money transfers. Their journey began in 2022 when Hudack, while serving as Chief Product Officer at Monzo Bank, experienced the frustration of transferring USDC from the UK to San Francisco—a process that, despite involving cutting-edge stablecoin technology, remained unnecessarily complex and user-hostile.

The founding story reflects deep expertise in consumer internet products at scale. Hudack's background includes pivotal roles at Facebook, where he ran Ads Product immediately following the company's IPO and later managed Sharing Product from London, plus leadership positions as Chief Product and Technology Officer at Deliveroo and Chief Product Officer at Monzo Bank, where he helped scale the neobank to over 13 million customers. Prior to his technology career, he founded Blip, an internet video company that eventually became part of The Walt Disney Company. Simon Amor contributed product design expertise from his tenure at Monzo and other fintech environments, bringing crucial user experience insights to the complex regulatory and technical challenges of global payments.

The company's funding journey began with a $5 million seed round led by Ribbit Capital with participation from Slow Ventures in 2022. This initial capital enabled the team to spend months researching the global payments landscape, understanding why no existing solution had successfully created a truly frictionless international money transfer experience despite the technical capabilities of blockchain infrastructure. Their analysis revealed that most attempts either prioritized technical complexity over user experience or failed to address the regulatory compliance requirements necessary for mainstream adoption.

August 2024 marked a significant milestone with the completion of a $15 million Series A round led by Union Square Ventures, alongside continued participation from Ribbit Capital and Slow Ventures. Rebecca Kaden, Partner at Union Square Ventures, emphasized the investment rationale: "Sling's vision aligns perfectly with our belief that building on payments infrastructure on the blockchain can fundamentally expand access, lower cost, and open new opportunities for users." This funding enabled accelerated global expansion and regulatory compliance efforts across multiple jurisdictions.

The regulatory achievement that truly distinguished AvianLabs came in April 2025 with the successful acquisition of a comprehensive MiCA license from the Netherlands Authority for Financial Markets, making the company one of only five Dutch entities to receive this authorization. This regulatory milestone followed earlier CASP registration in March 2024 and represented months of intensive compliance work to meet the European Union's stringent cryptocurrency asset service provider requirements. The MiCA license provides passporting rights across all 29 European Economic Area member states, enabling standardized service delivery across the region.

Alongside regulatory progress came significant product development milestones. The November 2024 launch of Sling Money in the United States marked the platform's entry into its largest potential market, with support for all major US banks and integration with real-time payment systems including FedNow, RTP, Visa Direct, and MasterCard Send. The appointment of Mashal Sultan, former Global Head of Financial Crime Operations at 3S Money and compliance executive at ING and Adyen, to the board demonstrates the company's commitment to maintaining the highest standards of financial crime prevention and regulatory adherence.

Business Model & Core Services

AvianLabs Netherlands B.V. operates a sophisticated freemium business model that prioritizes user adoption and transaction volume over immediate fee extraction, reflecting lessons learned from successful consumer internet platforms. The core value proposition centers on eliminating traditional pain points in international money transfers: high fees, slow processing times, complex recipient identification requirements, and limited geographic coverage.

The platform's primary revenue streams derive from fiat conversion services rather than transfer fees themselves. When users add money to their Sling Wallet, the platform charges small fees that vary by country and payment method but consistently target pricing at roughly half of traditional money transfer services. Once funds exist within the Sling ecosystem as stablecoins, all peer-to-peer transfers between users occur instantly and without charge, creating a powerful network effect that encourages user retention and referrals.

Secondary revenue generation includes yields on stablecoin holdings and premium features for power users, though the company emphasizes transparent pricing with no hidden fees or inflated exchange rates. Unlike traditional remittance services that profit from opacity in currency conversion, AvianLabs utilizes mid-market exchange rates published by CurrencyAPI for most currencies, or rates provided by local partners for less liquid currency pairs, ensuring users receive fair conversion terms.

The technical architecture supporting this business model represents a fundamental reimagining of money transfer infrastructure. Rather than relying on correspondent banking networks that can take days to settle international transfers, AvianLabs built its platform on Solana blockchain technology, which enables final settlement in seconds. The use of regulated stablecoins—USDP issued by Paxos Trust Company for US users and EURC from Circle for European customers—provides stable value storage while maintaining the speed and efficiency advantages of blockchain settlement.

The self-custodial approach differentiates AvianLabs from traditional money transfer operators and many cryptocurrency platforms. Users generate and control their own wallets through the Sling Money application, maintaining complete ownership of their funds while benefiting from institutional-grade security infrastructure. This model eliminates custodial risks while enabling features like account recovery that traditional self-custody solutions struggle to provide user-friendly implementations of.

Geographic expansion strategies focus on integrating with local payment rails and regulatory frameworks rather than treating international expansion as an afterthought. The platform currently supports instant or real-time payment systems in over 75 countries, with fiat integration capabilities extending to 150+ countries globally. This approach enables true local-to-local transfers that feel native to users in their respective markets while leveraging global blockchain infrastructure for cross-border settlement.

Regulatory Compliance & Trust

AvianLabs Netherlands B.V. has positioned regulatory compliance as a core competitive advantage rather than a necessary burden, reflecting the founding team's experience building regulated financial products at scale. The company's comprehensive MiCA authorization from the Netherlands Authority for Financial Markets represents one of the most significant regulatory achievements in the European cryptocurrency services sector, providing authorization to offer crypto-asset exchange services, transfer services, custody services, and administration services across all European Economic Area member states.

The MiCA licensing process required extensive documentation of operational procedures, risk management frameworks, consumer protection mechanisms, and governance structures that meet European Union standards for cryptocurrency service providers. This regulatory framework provides users with legal recourse and protection mechanisms comparable to traditional financial services, while enabling AvianLabs to offer innovative blockchain-powered features that incumbent banks struggle to match.

Beyond European compliance, the parent company Avian Labs Inc. maintains registration with the US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) as a Money Services Business, with registration number 31000282850022. This dual regulatory structure enables comprehensive coverage of major developed markets while providing the operational flexibility needed for rapid global expansion.

The appointment of Mashal Sultan to the board demonstrates the company's commitment to maintaining best-in-class compliance standards. Sultan brings extensive experience from leadership roles at major financial institutions including ING, Adyen, and 3S Money, where she served as Global Head of Financial Crime Operations. Her expertise encompasses anti-money laundering frameworks, counter-terrorist financing procedures, and regulatory compliance across multiple jurisdictions.

Information security standards align with institutional requirements through ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification, providing systematic risk management processes and security controls that protect user data and transaction information. This certification demonstrates the company's commitment to maintaining security standards comparable to traditional financial institutions while leveraging innovative blockchain technology.

The company's transparent approach to regulatory communication includes regular updates on compliance status, regulatory developments, and operational changes that might affect users. This proactive communication strategy builds trust while ensuring users understand the legal frameworks protecting their funds and personal information.

Economics & Value Proposition

AvianLabs Netherlands B.V. presents a compelling economic proposition by fundamentally restructuring the cost basis of international money transfers through blockchain technology utilization. Traditional remittance services typically charge combined fees and foreign exchange markups ranging from 6-12% of transfer value, while AvianLabs targets total costs at approximately half of these industry standards.

The fee structure operates on transparent, disaggregated pricing where users pay only for services they actually consume. Peer-to-peer transfers between Sling Money users incur zero fees and complete in seconds, creating immediate value for both senders and recipients. This contrasts sharply with traditional services that charge both sending and receiving fees while requiring 1-5 business days for settlement.

Adding money to the platform involves country-specific fees that vary based on local payment infrastructure costs and regulatory requirements. European users typically encounter lower fees due to SEPA integration and favorable regulatory frameworks, while users in markets with less developed payment infrastructure may face higher but still competitive costs. The platform provides full fee disclosure before transaction confirmation, eliminating surprise charges common with traditional remittance providers.

Foreign exchange economics provide significant user advantages through mid-market rate utilization rather than the inflated spreads common in traditional services. Where banks and legacy remittance providers often embed 3-6% margins in currency conversion rates, AvianLabs provides real-time mid-market rates with transparent conversion processes. This approach can save users hundreds of euros annually for frequent international transfers.

The network effect economics create increasing value as more users join the platform. Once funds exist within the Sling ecosystem, transfers to any other Sling user worldwide complete instantly and without cost, regardless of currencies or countries involved. This creates powerful incentives for recipient acquisition and user retention that traditional point-to-point transfer services cannot match.

Accessibility benefits extend beyond pricing to include elimination of minimum transfer amounts and complex recipient identification requirements. Users can send any amount starting from small values that might be uneconomical through traditional services, while recipients need not maintain specific bank relationships or visit physical locations to receive funds.

Technology & User Experience

AvianLabs Netherlands B.V. has built its technological infrastructure around the principle that advanced blockchain capabilities should be completely invisible to end users, delivering the performance benefits of decentralized settlement while maintaining the simplicity expected from consumer mobile applications. The platform's architecture utilizes Solana blockchain technology for its high transaction throughput and low-latency settlement capabilities, enabling final transfer confirmation in seconds rather than the hours or days required by traditional financial networks.

The self-custodial wallet implementation represents significant technical innovation in user experience design. Unlike traditional cryptocurrency wallets that burden users with complex seed phrase management and irreversible loss risks, AvianLabs has developed account recovery mechanisms that provide institutional-grade security while maintaining user convenience. The system enables users to regain access to their funds through verified identity processes rather than requiring perfect custody of cryptographic keys.

Mobile application design prioritizes simplicity and speed, with user flows optimized for the common use case of sending money to contacts by name rather than complex account numbers or blockchain addresses. The platform automatically handles currency conversions, routing optimization, and settlement procedures without requiring user intervention or understanding of underlying technical processes. Cross-platform compatibility ensures consistent functionality across iOS and Android devices.

Payment integration depth varies by market but emphasizes local optimization rather than one-size-fits-all approaches. European users benefit from comprehensive SEPA integration, while US customers can utilize modern real-time payment rails including FedNow, RTP, Visa Direct, and MasterCard Send. The platform automatically selects optimal payment methods based on user location and recipient requirements.

Performance metrics during high-demand periods demonstrate the scalability advantages of blockchain infrastructure. Unlike traditional payment systems that can experience degradation during peak usage, the Solana-based architecture maintains consistent sub-10-second settlement times regardless of transaction volume. This reliability proves particularly valuable for users in time-sensitive transfer scenarios.

Customer support operates through multiple channels including in-app messaging, email support, and comprehensive help documentation. The team's background in consumer internet products emphasizes proactive problem resolution and user education rather than reactive support models common in traditional financial services. Response times reflect the company's startup culture with rapid resolution for urgent issues.

Security & Risk Management

AvianLabs Netherlands B.V. implements enterprise-grade security measures that balance the innovative advantages of blockchain technology with institutional-level risk management practices. The platform's ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification demonstrates systematic information security management processes that meet international standards for data protection and operational security.

The self-custodial architecture provides fundamental security advantages by eliminating custodial risks that plague centralized financial services. Users maintain complete control over their funds through cryptographic key ownership, while the platform provides technical infrastructure and regulatory compliance without ever taking custody of user assets. This approach eliminates single points of failure that have historically resulted in large-scale fund losses at centralized cryptocurrency exchanges.

Multi-layered security controls protect user accounts and transaction authorization through two-factor authentication, biometric verification where available, and fraud detection systems designed to identify unusual activity patterns. The platform's non-custodial design means that even sophisticated attacks against AvianLabs infrastructure cannot result in direct theft of user funds, since cryptographic keys remain under user control.

Blockchain infrastructure security benefits from Solana's proven track record and network effects, with transaction finality backed by validator consensus rather than centralized settlement systems. This distributed approach eliminates counterparty risks while providing cryptographic proof of transaction completion that enables instant settlement confirmation.

Regulatory compliance frameworks include comprehensive anti-money laundering procedures, know-your-customer verification processes, and transaction monitoring systems designed to identify potentially suspicious activity. These measures align with both European MiCA requirements and US FinCEN registration obligations, ensuring consistent compliance across major markets.

Business continuity planning addresses potential disruptions through redundant system architectures and established procedures for maintaining operations during adverse conditions. The decentralized nature of blockchain settlement provides inherent resilience compared to traditional payment systems that depend on specific financial institution operations.

Market Position & Suitability

AvianLabs Netherlands B.V. occupies a unique position in the European payments landscape by combining regulatory compliance with blockchain innovation, appealing to users who require reliable international money transfers but have been underserved by traditional financial institutions and unregulated cryptocurrency services.

Digital Nomads and Remote Workers represent a core user segment that benefits tremendously from AvianLabs' global approach to payments. These users frequently need to move money between multiple countries and currencies while maintaining access to funds for daily expenses. The platform's instant settlement capabilities and comprehensive geographic coverage eliminate the planning complications and delays associated with traditional international transfers.

Immigrant Communities and Cross-Border Families find significant value in the platform's low-cost, instant transfer capabilities for regular remittances. Unlike traditional services that charge substantial fees for each transaction, AvianLabs enables free transfers once both sender and recipient have funds in the ecosystem, making regular family support transfers economically viable.

Small and Medium Enterprises engaged in international commerce benefit from the platform's ability to facilitate rapid payments without traditional banking delays. The transparent fee structure and mid-market exchange rates provide predictable costs for businesses managing international supplier relationships or client payments.

Cryptocurrency-Savvy Users seeking regulated, compliant alternatives to unregulated exchanges find AvianLabs provides institutional-grade security and regulatory protection while maintaining the speed and efficiency advantages of blockchain settlement. The self-custodial architecture appeals to users who understand the risks of centralized custody but want simplified user experiences.

Conservative European Users prioritizing regulatory compliance can confidently utilize AvianLabs services knowing the platform operates under comprehensive MiCA authorization with established consumer protection frameworks. The integration with local payment systems like SEPA provides familiar funding methods while accessing blockchain efficiency.

The platform's limitations include the requirement for smartphone access and basic digital literacy, potentially excluding users who prefer traditional banking relationships or lack mobile device access. Additionally, users seeking investment or speculative cryptocurrency features will not find trading functionality, as AvianLabs focuses exclusively on payments and money transfer use cases.

Conclusion

AvianLabs Netherlands B.V. represents a significant evolution in global payments infrastructure, successfully bridging the gap between blockchain technology capabilities and mainstream user accessibility within a comprehensive regulatory framework. The company's achievement of MiCA licensing demonstrates that innovative financial services can meet institutional compliance standards while delivering superior user experiences compared to traditional alternatives.

The platform's core strengths include genuine innovation in user experience design, comprehensive regulatory compliance across major markets, transparent pricing that delivers significant cost savings over traditional alternatives, and institutional-grade security through self-custodial architecture. The leadership team's proven track record at scale consumer internet companies provides confidence in their ability to navigate the complex challenges of global payments market development.

Areas for continued development include expanding local payment integration to serve additional markets, building educational resources to help users understand the benefits of blockchain-powered transfers, and developing additional features that leverage the platform's technical infrastructure while maintaining simplicity. The company's focus on regulated compliance may occasionally limit feature development speed compared to less regulated competitors, but provides sustainable competitive advantages in institutional and consumer markets.

For users seeking reliable, cost-effective international money transfers with modern technology infrastructure, AvianLabs offers compelling advantages over both traditional financial services and unregulated cryptocurrency alternatives. The combination of instant settlement, transparent pricing, regulatory protection, and global coverage makes it particularly suitable for digitally literate users who regularly engage in cross-border transactions.

The company's strategic positioning for long-term success appears strong, with regulatory compliance providing defensive moats while blockchain infrastructure enables continuous innovation in user experience and cost efficiency. As European and global markets continue adapting to cryptocurrency regulation, AvianLabs' early compliance leadership positions it advantageously for sustained growth and market expansion.