Klarna introduces KlarnaUSD, a dollar-pegged stablecoin built on Tempo, the payments chain developed by Stripe and Paradigm. The token remains in testnet with a mainnet launch planned for 2026, aiming to enhance Klarna’s internal payment rails and cross-border settlement flow rather than disrupt the consumer experience in the short term.
Stablecoin aims to streamline payments, not BNPL — at least for now
KlarnaUSD is designed to maintain a 1:1 dollar peg backed by cash reserves, with issuance and management handled through Bridge’s Open Issuance — a stablecoin infrastructure platform owned by Stripe. This outsourcing model allows Klarna to rely on specialized infrastructure for reserve handling and reporting while retaining oversight of the token’s issuance lifecycle.
The stablecoin is currently undergoing testing on Tempo, a chain built for low-latency and low-cost payments, with 2026 set as the targeted mainnet date. Klarna’s strategy leverages its operational alignment with Stripe and Paradigm through Tempo to integrate the asset into merchant payments, settlement processes and refunds, deliberately excluding BNPL products in this initial phase. As CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski stated, “Crypto is finally at a stage where it is fast, low-cost, secure and built for scale,” reflecting the reasoning behind Klarna’s shift toward digital assets.
Klarna’s market entry coincides with increasing regulatory clarity in certain regions, aided by Bridge’s compliance-ready infrastructure for KYC/AML and reserve auditing. However, frameworks in markets such as the U.K. remain unsettled, and future regulatory evolution across regions like the EU under MiCA or the U.S. will shape broader adoption.
The strategic objective emphasizes operational and competitive benefit. Processing $112 billion in annual GMV and serving 114 million users, Klarna seeks to cut frictions in cross-border payments, contrasting current fee structures of roughly $120 billion per year with the efficiency potential shown by an estimated $27 trillion in yearly stablecoin volume cited by the company.
For investors and compliance teams, governance and reserve transparency remain central. Adopting a proprietary stablecoin requires evaluation of counterparties, reserves, custody and audit pathways; outsourcing via Bridge reduces infrastructure load but demands strict oversight of backing and on-chain traceability.
KlarnaUSD signals a tactical evolution in payments infrastructure. The priority is strengthening settlement efficiency today rather than reshaping consumer-facing BNPL usage immediately.