Aquanow alternative for paying local money, not crypto, from USDT
Aquanow pays recipients in crypto, usually from your fiat balance. Unigox works the other way: from USDT or USDC it pays your own customers local money by bank or mobile money. Stay with Aquanow for crypto checkouts settled in fiat.
When to stay with Aquanow
Recipients should get crypto, paid from your fiat
An Aquanow payout usually converts your fiat balance into crypto and sends it to the recipient's wallet address: USDT on Ethereum or Tron, USDC on Ethereum, or BTC, SOL, XRP and other coins on its list. The Unigox Payments API runs the other way, from USDT or USDC to local money. A cash-out goes to a verified customer's account in their own name; payments to suppliers and other third parties run on supported routes, confirmed before integration.
Your customers pay in crypto and you want fiat in your bank
Aquanow takes crypto through payment links, a hosted checkout or its API, converts it and settles fiat to your bank by SWIFT, SEPA or EFT, on request, on a schedule or above a balance threshold. On a Unigox collection your customer pays in local currency and you receive USDT or USDC.
You need brokerage, a US counterparty or a VARA licence
Aquanow ME FZE holds a VARA licence in Dubai, and banks and brokers run trading for their clients on Aquanow's brokerage infrastructure. Unigox does not currently offer its services in the United States, where Aquanow is registered with FinCEN.
Aquanow Pay and Unigox for one payout and one collection
| Topic | Aquanow | Unigox |
|---|---|---|
| Funding a payout | Usually a fiat balance held with Aquanow, such as EUR, USD or CAD; the payout form lists only the fiat currencies you hold a balance in. Crypto already in your Aquanow balance can also be paid out. | USDT or USDC your company tops up in its partner wallet in advance. Your server signs each transfer out of it. |
| What the recipient gets | Crypto to the recipient's wallet address, from your address book or, by API, a new address sent with the recipient's KYC details: USDT on Ethereum or Tron, USDC on Ethereum, BTC and other listed coins. | Local currency in your verified customer's own bank or mobile money account. A connected payment business or a P2P merchant makes the payment; you can limit an order to payment businesses. |
| Collecting a payment | Your customer pays in crypto through a payment link, hosted checkout or the API. By default the price holds for 20 minutes after the address is created, and the deposit converts to fiat; you can keep received crypto instead. | Your customer pays in local currency by bank transfer or mobile money, and USDT or USDC reaches your partner wallet once that payment is confirmed. |
| Pricing | No rates published; the payments pages lead to a demo. The service fee sits in the conversion spread by default, or is charged as an explicit amount. On a payment link you choose whether you or the payer covers it. | Shown on every quote beside the rate: the Unigox fee for that currency and payment method, your own fee and the total. An order that does not complete is not charged. |
| API and testing | Requests signed with an API key, secret and nonce (HMAC-SHA384). Staging credentials come from Aquanow support, and staging API keys are generated in its portal. | An X-API-Key header and a sandbox with the same endpoints as production, opened after KYB and setup. Webhooks are signed with HMAC-SHA256. |
| Regulation | Registered as a money services business with FINTRAC in Canada and FinCEN in the US. Aquanow ME FZE holds a VARA licence in Dubai to serve institutional and qualified investors. | Unigox works through two companies: UNIGOX NETWORK CORP. in Canada handles the local-money side and is registered with FINTRAC as a money services business and with the Bank of Canada as a payment service provider; UNIGOX NETWORK CORP. in Panama handles the crypto side, including wallets and escrow. |
UnigoxMove payouts from Aquanow to Unigox in three steps
Name the payees who want local money
List the countries your Aquanow payouts go to where the payees would rather receive local money than crypto, and your monthly volume. Markets and setup are agreed on a call; then your company passes Unigox KYB, and API credentials follow approval.
Fund in USDT or USDC instead of fiat
Where you topped up a fiat balance at Aquanow, top up the Unigox partner wallet with USDT or USDC. If your treasury sits in EUR or GBP, an OTC deal converts it at a fee agreed before the first deal.
Turn wallet payees into verified customers
Where your app sent crypto to a recipient's wallet address, it now registers the payee as a customer, who passes a Unigox identity check. It then requests a quote and creates an order to that customer's own bank or mobile money account. Supplier payees may fit the third-party route instead; confirm it on the call. Signed webhooks report status and refunds.
Questions about Aquanow alternatives
What does Aquanow do, and where does Unigox overlap?
Aquanow sells digital asset infrastructure to banks, brokers, fintechs, payment companies and enterprises: liquidity and trading, embedded brokerage, and stablecoin payments in which the client can stay in fiat or hold crypto. Unigox overlaps on payments, from the other side: its Payments API is funded in USDT or USDC and delivers local currency. Its OTC deals also convert EUR or GBP to and from stablecoins, a small part of what Aquanow's Liquidity & Conversion product covers.
How does the Aquanow API compare with the Unigox API?
Aquanow has two APIs: a trading API for liquidity and conversion, and the Aquanow Pay API, which creates payment addresses for crypto invoices and sends crypto payouts, usually from a fiat balance. Each request is signed with an API key, secret and nonce. The Unigox Payments API quotes and creates local-currency payouts and collections for your verified customers. Your server signs every transfer from a USDT or USDC partner wallet, and webhooks are signed with HMAC-SHA256.
Can a payment business run Aquanow and Unigox side by side?
Yes, as two separate setups with their own onboarding. Crypto checkouts that settle fiat to your bank stay on Aquanow, and your verified customers who want local money in their own bank or mobile money account are paid through Unigox from USDT or USDC. Unigox does not currently offer its services in the United States, so US flows stay on Aquanow.
Bring your Aquanow payout flows to a call
Tell us where your customers are, whether they need bank or mobile money payouts, and your monthly volume. We confirm which local currencies the Payments API serves for you and how USDT or USDC funding works.
Aquanow and other names and logos are trademarks of their respective owners. Unigox is not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by them. Information about other companies comes from public sources, mainly the companies' own websites, and each company can change its products and fees at any time.