Meta Tests Stablecoin Payments as U.S. Regulation Evolves

Meta Platforms explores stablecoin payments across its apps as the regulatory landscape shifts in the United States.

2026-02-26

The owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp is experimenting with stablecoin payments within its ecosystem for a possible introduction later this year, the crypto news site CoinDesk and Bloomberg News reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the company’s plans. The trial is small and will use existing stablecoins, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing a person familiar with the effort. The company has no plans for its own stablecoin. “This is about enabling people and businesses to make payments on our platforms using their preferred method,” Stone wrote.

Meta “operates communications networks so it’s very natural for them to want to add a payments network,” said Jim Angel, an associate professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. The most probable stablecoin use case for Meta would be WhatsApp-enabled payments in underbanked markets, Maghnus Mareneck, the co-CEO of blockchain technology company Cosmos Labs, said Wednesday in an email. “WhatsApp is the payments Trojan horse in emerging markets across India, Brazil, and Southeast Asia, where hundreds of millions of people conduct daily commerce but remain underserved by traditional banking,” Mareneck wrote. “Layered on top of that are creator payouts across Instagram and Facebook, in-app commerce, and peer-to-peer transfers that currently bleed value through legacy remittance corridors, charging fees that stablecoins would make look absurd.”

Meta has sent a “request for product” to third parties that work with stablecoins, and Stripe is a candidate for some work in the project. Stripe Chief Executive Patrick Collison became a Meta director last year. In 2024, Stripe bought Bridge, a fintech that helps companies accept stablecoins for payment and transfer money between countries. For a large tech company like Meta, “the clearest strategic wedge” in stablecoin use would be for “creator and contractor payouts where fees, foreign exchange friction, and settlement delays still create real pain” across borders, said Josh Istas, head of product for The Strawhecker Group, a financial services consulting firm.