Stablecoin Issuers and Fintech Firms Race to Build Dedicated Payment Blockchains
Stablecoin payments are shifting away from general-purpose public blockchains such as Ethereum as issuers and fintech firms build their own settlement networks. Tether-backed Plasma, Circle’s Arc and Tempo, incubated by Stripe and Paradigm, are targeting institutional cross-border payments. Controlling the underlying rails could help them cut fees and generate revenue from compliance, foreign exchange and wallet services.
Plasma raised $24 million in February 2025 and launched its mainnet on September 25, focusing on cross-border USDT payments. Circle followed with Arc’s public testnet in October. Tempo announced its mainnet launch on March 18, 2026. Stripe had previously acquired Bridge for $1.1 billion in October 2024 and Privy in June 2025, rounding out its issuance, wallet and settlement capabilities.
All Coverage
1 original reportsThe Backstory
The history behind this eventBanks Turn to Multi-Provider Stablecoin Payment Infrastructure to Reduce Single-Provider Risk
Banks’ early stablecoin adoption typically relied on “black box” pilots in which a single provider handled wallets, compliance and liquidity. While these pilots enabled rapid testing of cross-border payments, they also created vendor lock-in. Fiat off-ramping could grind to a halt if the provider encountered regulatory problems, lost banking access or suffered a system outage, making multi-provider architecture critical to reducing operational risk.
On March 10, 2026, Borderless CEO Kevin Lehtiniitty said the company had partnered with wallet infrastructure provider Dfns to introduce an institutional-grade stablecoin off-ramping system for banks, fintech companies and businesses. The system can connect to multiple liquidity providers and reroute transactions when disruptions occur. The companies did not disclose the value of the partnership, the number of providers involved or a date for the system’s formal launch.
Stablecoin Race Shifts From Issuance to Distribution
Dollar-backed stablecoins were initially a contest for issuance scale, reserve income and liquidity, led by Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC. That layer is increasingly becoming commoditized as regulated providers connect tokens to mainstream payment systems. The strategic prize is shifting to companies that control wallets, custody, settlement and merchant acceptance because those channels own the customer relationship, determine the default asset and capture transaction data and pricing power.
On Feb. 28, 2026, CoinDesk reported that Meta planned to add stablecoin payment capabilities early in the second half, potentially reaching nearly 3.6 billion users across Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. Stripe, Meta’s longtime payments partner, had also bought stablecoin infrastructure company Bridge for $1.1 billion in 2025 and built the Tempo blockchain. MIT professor and Diem co-creator Christian Catalini said card networks, fintechs, neobanks and wallet providers hold the strongest distribution advantage.
Subscribe to Mark Radar Weekly
Every Friday, the week's strongest signals in your inbox. Unsubscribe anytime.
If you search news on Google, you can set Mark Radar as a preferred source—our coverage will show up more often in your results. Set as preferred source on Google →