Klarna Ventures into Stablecoins with KlarnaUSD Launch

Payments company Klarna has announced the launch of a stablecoin, KlarnaUSD, making it the first digital bank to issue a token on the new Tempo blockchain, a joint venture between Stripe and Paradigm.

The new stablecoin, KlarnaUSD, is pegged to the US dollar and is currently live on Tempo's testnet. A mainnet launch is anticipated in 2026. KlarnaUSD was developed by Bridge, a stablecoin infrastructure provider also owned by Stripe. This move expands Klarna’s existing payments partnership with Stripe across its 26 global markets.

Potential Benefits of KlarnaUSD

Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna, stated, "Crypto is finally at a stage where it is fast, low-cost, secure, and built for scale. This is the beginning of Klarna in crypto.""

Klarna is a Swedish fintech firm specializing in online checkout, payments, and short-term consumer credit. It is well-known for its buy now, pay later (BNPL) services. A Klarna spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the company is only starting to explore stablecoin technology, initially focusing on "internal uses," including "reducing the cost of international payments within Klarna." Currently, there are no plans to integrate stablecoins into Klarna’s installment-payment services.

The Growing Stablecoin Landscape

The year 2023 has seen significant growth in the stablecoin space, fueled by clearer regulations in the United States and the launch of new initiatives by prominent companies. In August, self-custodial crypto wallet MetaMask announced the launch of a stablecoin issued by Bridge and powered by liquidity platform M0. The token, mUSD, launched in September and currently has a market capitalization of $844 million.

Furthermore, Western Union has announced that it will use Solana to power a new stablecoin settlement system built around its US Dollar Payment Token (USDPT) and a Digital Asset Network developed in collaboration with Anchorage Digital Bank. The token is slated to launch in the first half of 2026.

Increasing Competition in the Stablecoin Market

Amid rising competition from stablecoin issuers, traditional payment companies are also getting involved. In July, Visa expanded its stablecoin settlement network by adding support for the Global Dollar (USDG) token and enabling transactions across Stellar and Avalanche.

The broader stablecoin market is now valued at approximately $304 billion, led by Tether (USDT) at around $184 billion and Circle (USDC) at about $74.3 billion, according to data from DefiLlama.


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