The Swedish fintech company Klarna (KLAR.N) said on Tuesday that it will introduce a stablecoin backed by the US dollar, making it the latest significant payments business to go further into digital assets as authorities tighten their control over the industry, Financial Times reported.
The token, known as KlarnaUSD, is presently undergoing testing and will be completely backed by the US dollar when it launches on the mainnet in 2026, according to the business.
A push for KlarnaUSD
Klarna stated that it wants to present KlarnaUSD as a quicker and less expensive substitute for traditional banking for regular payments and international transactions. One of the top fintech companies in Europe, buy-now-pay-later, has the greatest customer base in the US.
Tempo, a payments-focused blockchain created by Stripe and cryptocurrency investment company Paradigm, will power the stablecoin.
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Peer Stripe released a stablecoin following its $1.1 billion acquisition of cryptocurrency company Bridge earlier this year, while larger competitor PayPal (PYPL.O) opened a new tab and introduced its own U.S. dollar token.
“With 114 million customers and $112 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,” says Sebastian Siemiatkowski, co-founder and CEO of Klarna.
Details on KlarnaUSD
KlarnaUSD will debut on Tempo’s mainnet in 2026 and is based on Open Issuance by Bridge, a top stablecoin infrastructure platform and Stripe startup. Klarna has early access to its infrastructure for enhanced testing, prototyping, and integration because it is currently operational on its testnet and not accessible to the general public.
The collaboration strengthens Klarna and Stripe’s existing broad alliance, which covers payments infrastructure in all 26 of Klarna’s international markets. This marks the start of Klarna’s public disclosure of cryptocurrency projects.
Sebastian added, “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, and I’m excited to work with Stripe and Tempo to continue to shape the future of payments.”
Key regulations
These actions coincide with the development of new regulations for digital assets by European and American regulators. Like other stablecoin companies, Klarna is anticipated to gain from frameworks like the MiCA in Europe and the GENIUS Act in the United States.
Klarna’s stablecoin will first be used for internal payment procedures, and in the future, it is anticipated to be extended to merchant and customer usage.
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