Stripe is preparing a major global expansion of its stablecoin-backed card infrastructure, targeting availability in more than 100 countries by the end of 2026. Henri Stern, who co-founded Privy and now leads stablecoins and crypto across Stripe, told CoinDesk that the card programs are designed for fintechs, marketplaces and payment platforms that want to offer card products to their own users.
Under the model, platforms can provide users with a stablecoin balance and connect it to a card program operated by Stripe. The customer pays with a card in the usual manner, while Stripe and Bridge handle the stablecoin balance, card issuance and underlying payment flow. Merchants do not need to build separate blockchain checkout systems. Stripe said card eligibility will still depend on identity checks, fraud controls, local issuing partners and jurisdiction-specific rules.
Stablecoin card spending reached about $1.2 billion last month, roughly three times higher than a year earlier, according to Paymentscan. Existing card customers include crypto exchange Kraken, fintech company Ramp, and payments app Morse. Stripe has issued more than 400 million cards since 2018 and acquired stablecoin infrastructure firm Bridge for $1.1 billion in 2024.
The rollout follows Stripe's September 30 launch of Open USD, or OUSD, across Treasury, Issuing, Global Payouts, Payments and onramp tools. Stripe is also a founding investor in Open Standard, the company building OUSD as a competitor to Circle's USDC and Tether's USDT. Many existing card programs use USDC, but Stern said Stripe wants to remain open to different stablecoins and blockchains. Stripe is also exploring tokenized deposits and DeFi tools, though stablecoins remain the main focus.
