Swapido
Swapido is the older name you will still find in NWC maps and Bitcoin payment-gateway discussions. The current public product is Aureo: buy Bitcoin in Mexico direct to your wallet, sell Bitcoin over Lightning for pesos to a bank account or debit card, and treat the Nostr link as NWC ecosystem context rather than a social app feature.
What Swapido really is now
Swapido began as a Bitcoin-to-peso bridge for Mexico. The original launch article described it as a non-custodial, Lightning-first Bitcoin platform where a user could sell Bitcoin over the Lightning Network and send Mexican pesos to any bank account in Mexico. The flow was simple: create an order, enter the recipient name and CLABE, pay a Lightning invoice from your own wallet, and receive pesos.
That original product has not vanished, but the public brand has moved. On June 14, 2026, `swapido.com` redirected to Aureo, and the current Aureo site presents a broader Mexico-focused Bitcoin platform. Aureo now talks about individuals, businesses, patrimonio, OTC execution, direct-to-wallet buying, direct-to-bank selling, published fee tiers, research, education and advisory. The footer still names Aureo as `Swapido S.A.S. de C.V.` in the regulatory disclosure, so Swapido remains part of the legal and historical trail.
That is why this page keeps the title Swapido. People looking through NWC lists, old Lightning gateway maps, blog posts, podcast listings or conference clips will still encounter the older name. The accurate reader-facing description is: Swapido was the Lightning-first MXN off-ramp; Aureo is the current public platform carrying the project forward. If you use it today, verify the Aureo interface and legal documents, not only an old Swapido screenshot.
Why it belongs under Exchanges
Swapido belongs in Exchanges because the core job is conversion between Bitcoin and fiat money. The old product converted Lightning Bitcoin into Mexican pesos paid to bank accounts. The current Aureo product converts pesos into Bitcoin sent directly to a wallet, and converts Bitcoin into pesos sent to a bank account or debit card. That is exchange behavior even when the user experience feels closer to a payment gateway.
It is not a generic wallet. A wallet stores keys, signs transactions and manages balances. Swapido/Aureo expects you to bring your own wallet for Bitcoin custody and then uses Lightning, on-chain Bitcoin and Mexican payment rails to move value. It is also not a Nostr social app. There is no public feed, follow graph or profile surface in the current product story. The Nostr link comes from NWC ecosystem mapping, not from visible social-network usage.
The exchange category also helps you compare risk. When money crosses from Bitcoin into pesos or from pesos into Bitcoin, you need to check price, fee, settlement, KYC, banking details, tax records and finality. Those questions are different from the questions you ask about a Nostr client or a pure Lightning node. The user action is money movement, and the trust boundary is the bridge between your wallet and Mexican financial rails.
The original Lightning off-ramp
The Swapido launch article was unusually concrete. It said Swapido leverages the Lightning Network, a non-custodial experience and the SPEI system to provide a fast way to sell Bitcoin in Mexico. It gave everyday examples: rent, tacos, taxis and other local expenses could be paid with Bitcoin from the user's own wallet while the recipient received pesos.
The mechanism was a payment gateway pattern. The recipient did not need to understand Bitcoin. The sender created a Swapido order, entered Mexican bank details, paid a Lightning invoice, and Swapido handled the peso payout. This is a practical bridge for travelers, expats, remote workers and Bitcoin earners who need local liquidity without first sending funds to a custodial crypto exchange balance.
The word non-custodial needs precision. In this context it means the user keeps Bitcoin until the sale transaction is executed. It does not mean the service has no role. Swapido/Aureo still quotes, receives, converts and pays out. Once you pay the invoice, you are relying on the platform to complete the matching peso settlement, comply with its rules and provide support if the bank details or payment status become messy.
Aureo direct-to-wallet buying
Aureo's current buy page flips the original off-ramp into an on-ramp. It says Bitcoin should go direct to your wallet with no intermediate custody, no manual withdrawal and no hidden spread. The user creates an account, completes verification, adds a Lightning or on-chain address, sends pesos through SPEI, and receives Bitcoin to the selected wallet.
That is the right shape for users who care about custody. Many exchanges make you buy into an internal balance and then withdraw later. Aureo is explicitly selling direct settlement to your wallet as the point of the product. Its homepage demo shows a CLABE, a SPEI receipt, a Bitcoin destination and a fee report. For a cold-storage buyer, this matters because the withdrawal step is not an afterthought.
The practical check is address control. A direct-to-wallet flow is only safer if the destination is really yours and compatible with the network being used. If you enter a Lightning address, invoice, on-chain address or hardware-wallet receive address incorrectly, the product cannot make that mistake reversible. Before moving a large amount, test a small purchase, confirm the wallet sees the funds, and save the execution report.
Aureo direct-to-bank selling
Aureo's sell page is the descendant of Swapido's original flow. It tells the user to enter a CLABE or debit-card number, send Bitcoin through Lightning, and receive pesos directly into a bank account or debit card. The page highlights simple KYC, under-15-second peso payout, non-custodial positioning, global user coverage, high transaction limits and human support.
The key improvement over a mass-market exchange is not only speed. It is avoiding a prolonged exchange balance. You keep Bitcoin in your wallet until the order is ready. Then you send Bitcoin and receive pesos. This is valuable for people who earn in Bitcoin and spend in Mexico, but it is still a regulated sale. It creates records, may trigger tax obligations, and depends on the accuracy of banking data.
Aureo says limits start at 60,000 MXN per transaction and 200,000 MXN per month on the sell page, while older Swapido material mentioned 200,000 MXN monthly limits for level-one accounts. Treat those numbers as a starting point, not a guarantee. Your limit can depend on KYC, account level, jurisdiction, source-of-funds questions, transaction history and live policy changes.
SPEI and CLABE are the local rails
The Mexican rail behind the product is SPEI, Banco de Mexico's interbank electronic payment system. In ordinary user terms, SPEI is what lets pesos move between Mexican financial institutions quickly. The recipient details can include a CLABE, a debit card number or a mobile number associated with an account. Swapido's old material and Aureo's current sell page both revolve around CLABE and bank or card payout.
This local rail is why the product can feel like a payment app rather than a trading screen. A person can send Bitcoin and have another person receive pesos. A traveler or expat can settle everyday obligations without teaching every landlord, restaurant or contractor how to accept Lightning. That is the Lightning payment gateway model: Bitcoin on one side, local money on the other.
But local rails bring local obligations. SPEI transfers have names, institutions, references and compliance trails. If a recipient name, CLABE, card number or bank status is wrong, support has to work through a fiat payment system, not only a Bitcoin mempool. For serious payments, confirm the recipient data out of band, keep the payment reference, and do not assume a Lightning preimage proves the peso recipient has been credited.
The NWC claim is narrow
getAlby's awesome-nwc list places Swapido under Exchanges and describes it as a Mexican Bitcoin exchange with NWC integration. That is the reason Swapido belongs in this Nostr app map. NWC means Nostr Wallet Connect, the protocol that lets apps request wallet actions through Nostr relay messages without taking custody of the wallet funds.
The current Aureo site does not make NWC the center of its public product copy. It talks about Lightning, on-chain Bitcoin, SPEI, CLABE, Direct to Wallet, Direct to Bank, KYC and fees. That does not refute the awesome-nwc listing; it means a reader should separate the ecosystem reference from the current user-facing interface. NWC may be part of a wallet integration, payment-request path or product history, but the visible product does not read like a Nostr account manager.
For a user, the practical question is simple: are you connecting a wallet through NWC, or are you paying a Lightning invoice manually? If you scan or copy a Lightning invoice, your wallet signs a payment. If you authorize NWC, you may be granting an app permission to request payments through a relay. Those two flows have different risk surfaces. Do not assume one just because the directory says the project has NWC relevance.
NWC permissions deserve caution
NWC is useful because it lets apps and wallets coordinate payment requests without every app building a custom wallet integration. The official NWC docs explain that apps can request payments through a Nostr relay once a connection is created, and that users do not need a normal Nostr social account to benefit from the protocol. Nostr is the message layer.
That convenience can be dangerous if permissions are too broad. An NWC connection string is not a harmless label; it is a credential. Depending on the wallet and permission profile, it may allow an app to request payments, check balances, make invoices or list transactions. A payment gateway should need narrow permissions, clear budget limits, expiration and revocation.
If Swapido/Aureo exposes an NWC path in your actual workflow, treat it like a wallet authorization ceremony. Read the permission screen, set a low spending cap, use a dedicated wallet balance, test with a small amount, and revoke the connection when you are done. If the flow only presents a one-time Lightning invoice, the main risk is invoice amount, expiry and settlement, not persistent wallet access.
Aureo's regulatory posture
Aureo publishes more legal detail than the original Swapido launch. The site footer says Aureo, meaning Swapido S.A.S. de C.V., is registered in the Bitcoin Service Provider Registry administered by the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador, with services supervised by the Superintendency of the Financial System of El Salvador. It also says Aureo Mexico, Soluciones Tecnologicas Nagumatech S.A.P.I. de C.V., is registered with Mexico's SAT as a Vulnerable Activity under LFPIORPI.
The How Aureo Works article adds operational context. It says users complete identity verification before using the platform, and names Sumsub and ComplyAdvantage as KYC and compliance providers. It says the Mexican entity participates under the vulnerable-activity regime, and that the platform uses Nvio Pagos, also known as Bitso Mexico, for SPEI infrastructure and Lightspark for Bitcoin and Lightning payments.
Those details are important for trust and for limits. Aureo is not presenting itself as a no-KYC street swap. It is presenting itself as a regulated, documented Bitcoin purchase and sale platform. That can help users who need bank-readable records, but it also means personal data, transaction history, wallet addresses, CLABE data and compliance review are part of the service.
Fees are published by tier
Aureo's pricing page publishes fee tiers by transaction size. The schedule shown on June 14, 2026 listed 2.00% below 5,000 MXN, 1.75% from 5,000 to 19,999 MXN, 1.50% from 20,000 to 49,999 MXN, 1.25% from 50,000 to 199,999 MXN, 1.00% from 200,000 to 1,999,999 MXN, 0.85% from 2,000,000 to 19,999,999 MXN, 0.75% above 20,000,000 MXN, and custom pricing for sovereign mandates.
The site says the same published pricing applies to buys and sells, that there are no hidden spreads above spot, and that there are no SPEI withdrawal fees. The Terms are more cautious: they say the quoted price includes fees, that Aureo's revenue comes through spread or margin on the exchange rate, and that network fees may apply for Bitcoin withdrawal transactions. The useful reading is to trust the live quote screen and the legal terms over any simplified marketing summary.
For you, fee transparency is only useful if you compare the full route. A lower explicit exchange fee can be offset by a worse exchange rate, withdrawal fee, network fee, bank fee or failed transaction. Check the quote, fee tier, spot reference, Bitcoin network fee, Lightning routing cost, SPEI amount, final MXN amount and tax report. If you are using an advisor-led or OTC tier, get the fee and execution summary in writing.
Terms limit what the service is
Aureo's Terms of Service are blunt about scope. They say Aureo facilitates services related to Bitcoin and virtual assets, including buy and sell services, but does not provide custody of Bitcoin or virtual assets. They also say Bitcoin and virtual assets are not legal tender in Mexico, are irreversible once executed, may be volatile and involve technological, cybersecurity and fraud risks.
The Terms describe completion of a purchase as money being credited to Aureo's accounts, Bitcoin being sent to the public address or wallet designated by the user, and the Bitcoin appearing credited or confirmed. A sale is complete when the assets are linked to Aureo addresses or wallets, money has been sent to the bank or payment account, and the money appears credited or validated by Banxico or the payment processor.
That language should shape expectations. A polished interface can feel instant, but the legal definition still depends on payment receipt, wallet credit, confirmation, SPEI validation and account data. If a transaction is pending, rejected or refunded, the Terms decide the process. Read the cancellation, limits, KYC, account suspension, tax and liability sections before using Aureo for a large transaction.
Privacy and data are part of the trade
Aureo's Privacy Policy lists substantial personal and financial data. For natural persons and legal entities it can include identity documents, proof of address, professional details, tax identifiers, financial or patrimonial information, account numbers, CLABE, balances, wallet addresses, transactional history, geolocation, biometric details, electronic signature material and public keys shared with the platform.
That is not unusual for a regulated buy/sell platform, but it matters for a Bitcoin user. If you use a direct-to-wallet exchange, the platform can associate your identity with destination wallet addresses. If you sell Bitcoin to a CLABE, the platform can associate your identity, source wallet, sale amount and bank destination. If you connect through APIs or embedded interfaces, device and technical data may also be recorded.
The privacy trade is therefore explicit: you gain a documented Mexican peso bridge, but you do not get privacy like a peer-to-peer cash trade. Use a wallet labeling discipline. Keep exchange-related addresses separate from long-term cold storage. Save records for taxes, but do not expose more wallet history than a transaction requires. If you are a business, check who in your company can view reports and transaction history.
Why the rebrand matters
The rebrand from Swapido to Aureo changes the product frame. Swapido sounded like a quick swap tool. Aureo now positions itself as Mexico's premium Bitcoin wealth management platform, with individuals, businesses, patrimonio, OTC, research and advisory. Bitcoin Magazine reported that Aureo, formerly known as Swapido, raised 1.1 million USD from Early Riders to build secure Bitcoin custody and services in Latin America.
That shift may be good for users who need support, reports, larger limits and a serious counterpart. It may be less relevant for users who only wanted the simplest possible Lightning-to-pesos bridge. The current site still has self-serve flows, but the brand is clearly moving toward a broader Bitcoin financial services company rather than a single-purpose off-ramp.
The page you are reading should therefore preserve both names. Searchers need Swapido because NWC directories and early coverage use that name. Current users need Aureo because the domain, terms, privacy policy, legal disclosure, pricing and live account interface use that name. If the two ever diverge again, the live legal documents and domain routing should win.
How to test it safely
Start with the live domain. If you type `swapido.com`, confirm where it redirects. If you open Aureo directly, confirm the TLS domain, language, terms, privacy policy, fee page and app URL before entering identity documents. Do not follow random Telegram or social links into a payment flow. For a money product, the domain check is not ceremony; it is part of the transaction.
For a buy, create the smallest useful test. Add a wallet address you control, send a low-value SPEI transfer, wait for the Bitcoin to land, verify the wallet, save the report and compare the final fee against the pricing page. For a sell, use a low-value Lightning payment, verify the CLABE or card destination, wait for the peso credit, and save the Lightning payment proof plus the bank receipt.
If NWC appears in your flow, test it separately from the exchange. Use a dedicated wallet with a small balance, set a spending limit, confirm the relay and app name, make one payment, then revoke the connection. If the product only asks you to pay a Lightning invoice, do not grant any persistent wallet access. The safest route is the one where you know exactly which permission you gave.
Who Swapido fits
Swapido/Aureo fits Bitcoin users in or connected to Mexico who need reliable peso movement. That includes people living on Bitcoin, expats paying local expenses, remote workers receiving sats, Mexican savers buying direct to self-custody, businesses that want documented Bitcoin execution, and larger holders who need advisor-led support rather than a mass-market exchange account.
It is less ideal for users who need anonymous Bitcoin movement, a global no-KYC wallet, or a pure Nostr payment app. Aureo requires identity verification for platform use. It is designed to produce records. It uses regulated and bank-adjacent infrastructure. Those choices are exactly what can make it useful for serious peso settlement, but they are incompatible with a private cash-style swap.
For Nostr readers, the project is useful because it shows a real NWC-adjacent exchange use case: an app can sit between a Lightning wallet and a local payment system. That is not the same as zapping a post, but it is part of the same wider pattern. Bitcoin payment intent moves through open rails; local settlement lands where non-Bitcoin recipients already live.
Closeout
Swapido is a good example of why a Nostr app map has to do more than copy names from a directory. The name still matters, but the live product has become Aureo. The original idea was a Lightning-first Mexican off-ramp. The current product is a broader Bitcoin platform for Mexico with buying, selling, pricing, KYC, reports, research, advisory and legal disclosures.
The Nostr relevance is real but bounded. awesome-nwc lists Swapido as an exchange with NWC integration, and NWC is exactly the kind of protocol that can make wallet-to-app payment flows easier. But the public Aureo product should be judged first as a Bitcoin exchange and payment bridge using Lightning, SPEI and direct wallet settlement.
Use it with clear labels. Swapido is the historical and directory name. Aureo is the current interface and legal paper trail. Lightning is the fast Bitcoin rail. SPEI and CLABE are the peso rail. NWC is a possible wallet-connection layer, not a guarantee that every flow is Nostr-mediated. Once those labels are clear, the product becomes much easier to evaluate.
Sources worth opening
Start with the current Aureo homepage, buy, sell, pricing, terms, privacy and transparency pages, then compare the original Swapido launch post, the Bitso-alternative article, the awesome-nwc listing, NWC documentation, NIP-47, Banxico's SPEI reference, Blink's Lightning payment gateway context and external coverage of Aureo's rebrand and funding.
- Legacy Swapido domain redirect
- Aureo official site
- Aureo buy Bitcoin
- Aureo sell Bitcoin
- Aureo pricing
- Aureo Terms of Service
- Aureo Privacy Policy
- Aureo transparency: How Aureo Works
- Original Swapido launch announcement
- Swapido Bitso alternative article
- Aureo Lightning wallet guide
- Aureo editorial index
- Aureo learn center
- Aureo help center
- Bitcoin Magazine: Early Riders backs Aureo
- Stephan Livera Podcast: Bitcoin adoption in Mexico and Aureo
- Build With Bitcoin: Swapido Lightning-powered swaps
- Blink: Lightning payment gateways and Swapido
- Banco de Mexico: SPEI reference
- Global Legal Insights: Mexico crypto regulation overview
- getAlby awesome-nwc
- getAlby awesome-nwc raw README
- Nostr Wallet Connect official site
- NWC Docs: introduction
- NWC Docs: welcome
- Nostr NIP-47 Wallet Connect
- Nostr NIP-04 encrypted direct messages
- Lightning BOLT 11 invoice encoding
- Alby: Introducing Nostr Wallet Connect
- Bitcoin Magazine: Nostr Wallet Connect is the USB-C connector of Bitcoin wallets
