Klarna has announced the launch of its first stablecoin, KlarnaUSD, marking a notable development for the company, whose CEO was previously sceptical about cryptocurrency.
The stablecoin will be issued on Tempo, a new independent blockchain developed by Stripe and Paradigm, which is specifically designed for payments.
Klarna is the first bank to launch a stablecoin on Tempo.
KlarnaUSD aims to streamline cross-border payments, which currently incur an estimated US$120 billion in transaction fees each year.
The company sees stablecoins as a means to reduce costs for both consumers and merchants.
Sebastian Siemiatkowski, co-founder and CEO of Klarna, said:
“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.”
ChatGPT said:
Klarna is building KlarnaUSD on Open Issuance by Bridge, a stablecoin infrastructure platform and Stripe company, and plans to launch it on Tempo’s mainnet in 2026.
It is currently live on Klarna’s testnet, allowing the company early access for advanced testing, prototyping, and integration.
The partnership further strengthens the existing relationship between Klarna and Stripe, which spans payments infrastructure across Klarna’s 26 markets worldwide.
Klarna has indicated that it will reveal its next partner in the coming weeks as it begins to share its broader crypto initiatives publicly.
Featured image credit: Klarna
