Linguard Labs, a California-based fintech infrastructure company founded by former Visa mobile innovation chief Drew Weinstein with former JPMorgan global chief architect John Davies as CTO, has taken majority control of El Salvador's Chivo wallet and plans to relaunch it through a public-private partnership. According to ChainCatcher, the Salvadoran government transferred the majority stake under guidance from the International Monetary Fund.

The new Chivo wallet will offer microloans and cash advances based on users' income, payment, and spending records inside the app. It will also let merchants apply for cash advances to expand their businesses, while targeting unbanked and underbanked users. The updated service will include fee-free remittances from the U.S. to El Salvador and a cashback debit card for purchases at merchants that do not yet accept crypto payments. Chivo already has more than 4.5 million registered users.