Payment giants collectively bet on 2026: the last piece of fintech is activated

The boundaries between fintech and cryptocurrency are dissolving. After leading fintech companies like PayPal, Stripe, Revolut, Klarna, and Robinhood significantly increased their digital asset presence in 2025, they are collectively betting that 2026 will be the year of explosive industry growth. This is not a coincidence but a strategic repositioning of the $3 trillion global crypto market—from an investment asset to a payment infrastructure.

Specific Strategies of Fintech Giants

Major players are taking distinctive actions in stablecoins and blockchain infrastructure, but their directions are aligned.

Why 2026

This timeline is not chosen arbitrarily. According to the latest forecast by Bernstein analysts, 2026 will see multiple positive catalysts for the crypto industry:

• Stablecoin supply is expected to grow 56%, reaching $4.2 trillion, mainly driven by payment and fintech companies involving Block, Revolut, PayPal, etc.
• Stablecoin trading volume will reach $27.6 trillion in 2025, surpassing the combined total of Visa and Mastercard for the first time, indicating the payment sector has matured.
• Policy frameworks are gradually taking shape, with the Trump administration’s “Genius Act” clarifying compliance requirements for stablecoin issuers, laying the foundation for large-scale commercial use.
• Bitcoin has bottomed out, with a target price of $150,000 by 2026, and market sentiment turning constructive.

The strategic significance of this layout

This is not just a technological upgrade but a critical moment for fintech to redefine its competitiveness.

The dilemma faced by traditional fintech companies is: the payment market has become a red ocean, and the network effects of Visa and Mastercard are hard to shake. But stablecoins and blockchain infrastructure open new possibilities—by reducing cross-border payment costs, improving settlement efficiency, and supporting new financial applications, these companies can bypass traditional payment monopolies and directly participate in reshaping financial infrastructure.

Stripe’s Tempo strategy is the most aggressive. By acquiring Bridge to gain stablecoin issuance capabilities and then launching its own public chain, Stripe is essentially building a dedicated blockchain ecosystem for payments. Klarna’s choice to issue KlarnaUSD on Tempo fundamentally recognizes the potential of this infrastructure.

PayPal’s approach is more cautious—by expanding the application scenarios of PYUSD and increasing the number of supported blockchains, it gradually integrates stablecoins into daily payments. This incremental integration may be easier to gain regulatory approval than launching a new, aggressive chain.

Market’s True Signal

In 2025, stablecoin trading volume surpassing that of traditional payment giants marks a historic turning point. It shows that stablecoins are no longer niche trading tools but are driven by genuine payment demand. Emerging market users use stablecoins for cross-border remittances, enterprises accelerate settlements with stablecoins, and financial institutions expand their business with stablecoins—all real developments.

The collective bets by fintech giants reflect their confidence in this trend. Instead of waiting, they prefer to actively participate in building the infrastructure and securing future pricing power.

Summary

2026 could be a watershed year for the crypto industry. The shift from asset investment to payment infrastructure, from niche applications to mainstream finance, is catalyzed by the participation of payment giants. Stablecoins and blockchain are no longer exclusive topics within the crypto circle but are the final puzzle pieces for fintech to redefine its value. What to watch next is the resilience of this layout amid regulatory changes and the speed of real-world application deployment.