Meta Seeks Third-Party Firm for Stablecoin and Wallet Ambitions

TikTok Shop has been at the forefront of the social commerce surge, where influencers’ live streams and product videos link directly to checkout. As a result, social platforms have become one of the fast-growing segments in e-commerce.

A key driver of this growth is frictionless payments. Platforms that let users buy directly see higher engagement and conversions, and a stablecoin could make transactions faster, cheaper, and more seamless—connecting social media with financial services in real time.

Recognizing this potential, Meta, which reaches roughly 3 billion users across Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, is reviving its plans to introduce a stablecoin within its ecosystem. Such a launch could deepen the company’s role in social commerce while also positioning it as a major player in financial services.

“WhatsApp is essentially the communication layer for a large portion of cross-border payments, commerce, and even remittances—so stablecoins could become the settlement layer and significantly reduce fees for users,” said Joel Hugentobler, Cryptocurrency Analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research. “My guess would be that the UX mostly hides the crypto rails, so it’s all handled on the backend. The simpler the experience for the user, the better.”

“This will reduce payout delays, bank transfer and other intermediary frictions, and even FX complexities,” he said. “Meta will have the decision to pass savings to merchants, keep savings to add to margins and increase revenue, and/or potentially subsidize early on to drive adoption.”

Shifting the Strategy

All these benefits are reasons why Meta has long pursued a stablecoin. The tech giant first introduced its Libra stablecoin, later rebranded as Diem, in 2019. However, regulatory challenges and high costs forced Meta to shelve the project.

Following last year’s passage of the GENIUS Act, Meta revisited the idea, but with a new approach. Instead of issuing a proprietary stablecoin itself, the company released a request for proposals (RFP) to third-party firms, seeking a partner to handle stablecoin issuance and wallet operations.

“Meta is going to be one of many notable players entering the space,” Hugentobler said. “There’s no evidence that they are going to issue their own stablecoin this time, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they did at some point down the road. For now, I think their focus is distribution, wallet integration, and user experience—and they will let the regulated issuers focus on what they do best.”

Becoming the Default

One leading contender is Bridge, the stablecoin infrastructure firm recently acquired by Stripe. Bridge has quickly established itself as a major crypto player and even recently gained approval as a national trust bank.

Regardless of which partner wins the bid, Meta is targeting a launch later this year—a signal that digital payments are central to its social commerce strategy. its stablecoin by the latter part of the year. If successful, the move could strengthen the link between social media and fintech, bringing Meta closer to the super app model, and expand the mainstream adoption of digital assets.

“This is a big deal,” Hugentobler said. “With Meta making stablecoins a native payment inside these applications, the networks are big enough to push stablecoins and crypto rails for payments into the mainstream, and to become the default.”

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Tags: Cross-Border PaymentsDigital AssetsMetaSocial CommerceStablecoin