BNPL Giant Klarna Rolls Out Native Stablecoin – KlarnaUSD
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Sweden-based global digital bank and payment provider, Klarna, announced the upcoming launch of KlarnaUSD stablecoin yesterday, November 25. The dollar-backed stablecoin was designed on a new blockchain from Stripe and Paradigm, and it comes at a time when stablecoin transfers have reached $27 trillion annually.
Klarna CEO Expects Stablecoins To Overtake Legacy Systems
Klarna started out as a BNPL platform, but has since evolved into a global digital bank and a flexible payments provider. Now, it is venturing deeper into the crypto industry by launching its own stablecoin, known as KlarnaUSD. This represents a major shift for the firm, whose CEO was once a rather vocal crypto skeptic.
However, the company has recognized the potential of the stablecoin market, which has now hit a major milestone of $27 trillion in yearly transactions. Klarna’s leadership believes that this is a signal that stablecoins could overtake legacy payment networks before the decade is out, which explains its decision to enter the stablecoin market itself.
KlarnaUSD went live on Tempo, which is a new, independent blockchain created by Stripe and Paradigm. The chain was purpose-built for payments, offering cross-border payments, generating $120 billion in transaction fees annually.
Commenting on the matter, Klarna’s co-founder and CEO, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, stated: “With 114 million customers and $118 billion in annual GMV, Klarna has the scale to change payments globally: with Klarna’s scale and Tempo’s infrastructure, we can challenge old networks and make payments faster and cheaper for everyone.”
He added that the crypto industry has finally reached the stage where it is fast, low-cost, secure, and built for scale. “This is the beginning of Klarna in crypto, and I’m excited to work with Stripe and Tempo to continue to shape the future of payments,” he added.
KlarnaUSD To Go Live On Tempo’s Mainnet In 2026
The company’s announcement went on to explain that KlarnaUSD is built on Open Issuance by Bridge, a leading stablecoin infrastructure platform and Stripe company. The plan is to launch the stablecoin on Tempo’s mainnet in 2026. For the moment, the stablecoin is running on their testnet, and is not publicly available as of yet.
Still, this gives Klarna early access to its infrastructure, enabling advanced testing, prototyping, and integration. Klarna already has an extensive relationship with Stripe, and this move is expected to deepen it further.
However, it also represents the beginning of Klarna publicly sharing crypto initiatives. The company also hinted that it already has another partner, which will be revealed in the coming weeks.
