Meta (META), the social media giant behind Facebook and Instagram, has started offering stablecoin payments to creators, signaling a return to crypto payments years after abandoning its Libra project.
The feature is currently available to a limited group of creators in Colombia and the Philippines, according to a Meta website. Eligible users can link a crypto wallet and receive USDC token payments from Circle on the Solana or Polygon blockchain networks.
The service is supported by payment company Stripe, which will provide users with crypto-related reports. Creators can receive tax documents from Meta and Stripe related to their income and digital asset transactions. A Stripe spokesperson confirmed the company’s involvement in CoinDesk.
“Businesses can now send stablecoin payments directly to customers using Link,” said Jay Shah, head of Link at Stripe, referring to the company’s customer payments service. “We are already partnering with Meta so that their creators can receive stablecoins in their Link wallets in countries like the Philippines and Colombia.”
The news comes after Meta sought help from third-party providers to administer stablecoin payments on its platforms, with Stripe one of the top contenders for integration, CoinDesk reported in February.
The move places Meta, with more than 3 billion users on its social media platforms worldwide, among the largest technology companies experimenting with stablecoins for real-world payments, using blockchain rails to transfer money to users globally without relying on traditional banking systems. Stablecoins – cryptocurrencies whose prices are linked to fiat currencies – are increasingly seen as a faster and cheaper way to pay. Visa, for example, reported that its stablecoin settlement network reached $7 billion in annualized transaction volume, representing 50% growth in a quarter.
The initiative marks Meta’s return to stablecoins after attempting to introduce the Libra token, later renamed Diem, only to shut down the project amid regulatory review in 2022.
Read more: Stripe doubles down on blockchain and stablecoins, aiming to become “AWS for money”
UPDATE (April 29, 8:22 p.m. UTC): Adds a statement from Jay Shah, Head of Link at Stripe.
