Meta Plans Stablecoin Launch with Stripe Partnership in 2026

Meta Is Coming Back to Crypto: A Stablecoin Backed by Stripe

Meta, the company behind the world's largest social platforms — Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp — is gearing up to launch its own stablecoin. Its partner on the project is payment giant Stripe, which has been aggressively expanding into the blockchain space and is even building its own blockchain, Tempo, after declaring existing networks unfit for payments.

The stablecoin is expected to go live by the end of 2026. If successful, the project would tap into an audience of 3 billion users, making it one of the most ambitious crypto ventures ever attempted.

Lessons from Libra and Diem: Why Meta Is Trying Again

This isn't Meta's first run at digital currencies. The company has made bold moves before, only to hit a wall of regulatory resistance each time:

• Libra (2019) — A proposed global cryptocurrency announced in 2019 that drew fierce pushback from regulators worldwide. Central banks and financial authorities worried that a currency backed by a company with a billion-plus user base could undermine national monetary policy. The original project had attracted heavyweight partners including Mastercard, PayPal, Visa, Coinbase, and Uber — but the regulatory onslaught triggered a mass exodus from the consortium.
• Diem (2020–2022) — A rebranded and reworked version of Libra that still couldn't secure the necessary approvals. The project was shut down in 2022, and its assets were sold to Silvergate Capital Corporation for $200 million.

Despite those setbacks, Meta is circling back to the idea of embedding digital payments into its ecosystem. This time, the company has opted for a stablecoin — a token pegged to a traditional currency, making it far less volatile and better suited for everyday transactions. The key difference in this approach: partnering with an established payment processor rather than trying to build the infrastructure from scratch.

According to CoinDesk sources, Meta is being deliberately cautious. "They want to do this, but at arm's length," one source said, describing the company's strategy of leaning on external payment providers to shield itself from the kind of regulatory blowback that killed Libra.

Stripe's Role and the Tempo Blockchain

The choice of Stripe as a partner is no accident. The company is one of the world's largest payment processors and has been pouring resources into blockchain infrastructure. Stripe is already developing its own Tempo blockchain, capable of processing transactions in under one second and specifically optimized for payment operations. That technological foundation could become the backbone of Meta's stablecoin.

The ties between the two companies run deep: Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison joined Meta's board of directors in April 2025. Stripe also brings serious stablecoin credentials — in 2024, the company acquired specialized platform Bridge for $1.1 billion and recently rolled out its Open Issuance solution for launching fiat-backed tokens.

A Meta-Stripe partnership could deliver:

• Technical infrastructure to handle transactions at the scale of billions of users — the Tempo blockchain is being built precisely for high-throughput payment scenarios;
• Regulatory compliance, drawing on Stripe's years of experience working with financial regulators around the globe.

A More Favorable Regulatory Climate

The timing may finally be right. The Donald Trump administration has ushered in a more crypto-friendly regulatory environment. In July 2025, the GENIUS Act was signed into law, establishing a basic framework for stablecoins — though comprehensive regulations for token issuers are still being developed.

The move also ramps up competition with platform X and Telegram, both of which are actively weaving cryptocurrency solutions into their services.

According to McKinsey research, stablecoins accounted for just about 0.02% of global payments in 2025. Yet studies by BVNK, Coinbase, and Artemis show that token-based payments can cut transaction costs by 40% — a compelling case for why the next wave of adoption could come fast once infrastructure and regulation align.