Klarna said it will launch KlarnaUSD, a US dollar-backed stablecoin designed for everyday payments and cross-border transactions, as large payments firms push deeper into digital assets and regulators refine new rules.

The Swedish digital bank and flexible payments provider confirmed the token is live on Tempo’s testnet and scheduled for mainnet launch in 2026. KlarnaUSD is built using Open Issuance by Bridge, a stablecoin infrastructure platform owned by Stripe, and will be fully backed by the US dollar.

Klarna described Tempo as a blockchain purpose-built for payments and said the move is intended to lower costs for consumers and merchants where cross-border fees are estimated at $120 billion annually.

“With 114 million customers and $118 billion in annual GMV, Klarna has the scale to change payments globally: with Klarna’s scale and Tempo’s infrastructure, we can challenge old networks and make payments faster and cheaper for everyone,” said Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Klarna co-founder and chief executive officer, in the company’s press release. He added: “Crypto is finally at a stage where it is fast, low-cost, secure, and built for scale. This is the beginning of Klarna in crypto, and I’m excited to work with Stripe and Tempo to continue to shape the future of payments.”

Klarna said KlarnaUSD is not yet publicly available and will remain in testing for advanced prototyping and integration. The partnership extends an existing relationship between Klarna and Stripe across 26 markets, according to the announcement. Reuters noted the company aims to position KlarnaUSD as a faster and cheaper alternative to conventional banking for retail payments and remittances, and that its largest user base is in the United States.

The stablecoin sector has grown quickly, with McKinsey estimating annual stablecoin transactions at $27 trillion and forecasting they could overtake legacy payment networks before the decade’s end, Klarna’s statement said. The sector is also seeing moves from peers. Reuters reported that PayPal launched its own U.S. dollar token, while Stripe introduced a stablecoin after its $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge earlier this year.

Regulatory frameworks are progressing. Reuters said Klarna and other stablecoin firms expect to benefit from emerging rules such as the GENIUS Act in the United States and MiCA in Europe. Klarna’s press release included forward-looking statements and cautioned that risks related to competition, regulation, funding and market conditions could cause outcomes to differ from expectations.

Klarna said it will share official updates once KlarnaUSD goes live on klarna.com and its other channels.

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