Tech Giants Finally Embrace Crypto

Digital payments are entering a new era. Apple, Google Cloud, Airbnb, and X (formerly Twitter) are quietly discussing with crypto companies to integrate stablecoins into their services. This strategic shift marks a clear turning point: blockchain is moving out of the experimental phase to become an infrastructure tool coveted by tech giants.

Big Tech Explores Stablecoins to Optimize Costs

While Uber announced plans to accept cryptos as a payment method, other tech giants including Apple, Airbnb, X (ex-Twitter), and Google have started confidential talks with crypto companies to integrate stablecoins into their payment systems.

This crypto initiative mainly aims to improve the efficiency of cross-border payments and reduce dependence on traditional intermediaries. Companies see adopting these cryptos as a way to lower transaction fees and optimize cross-border payments.

Among them, Airbnb has been actively exploring the idea since early this year, collaborating with companies specializing in stablecoin infrastructure, and considering bypassing players like Visa or Mastercard.

Thus, ongoing initiatives are as follows:

• Airbnb is in talks with Worldpay, one of its payment providers, which recently announced a partnership with stablecoin infrastructure company BNVK.

• Apple, on its side, has been negotiating since January 2025 with representatives from Circle, issuer of the USDC stablecoin, notably with Matt Cavin, a senior company executive.

• Airbnb has confirmed that “crypto payments are not an immediate integration priority, but the company is monitoring sector developments.”

• At this stage, Apple and X remain silent, underscoring the still confidential nature of these projects.

Although at an early stage, these discussions reveal growing strategic interest in stablecoins, seen no longer as a speculative trend but as a tool for modernizing financial infrastructures.

The desire to reduce intermediation fees seems to be the main driver behind this emerging transformation.

Concrete Experiments Already Underway and Accelerating Momentum

While some companies such as Airbnb and Apple are still at the exploratory stage, others like Google Cloud have already taken action. The company’s cloud division confirmed accepting stablecoin payments for two of its clients, specifically in PYUSD, the stablecoin issued by PayPal in partnership with Paxos.

“We billed these clients as usual. They simply used stablecoins to pay their invoices,” said Rich Widmann, Head of Web3 Strategy at Google Cloud.

These transactions were integrated into the company’s regular accounting without a specific division, showing a desire for a smooth and structured integration. Widmann even called this evolution “the biggest advancement in payments since the SWIFT network.”

X, Elon Musk’s platform, is developing a more ambitious approach through its X Money app, designed as a versatile payment tool. After officially partnering with Visa in January for a digital wallet development, X is now in talks with Stripe about a possible integration of stablecoin payments.

Negotiations, initially led by Patrick Traughber (former head of payments, now at World), are now taken over by Payam Abedi, a senior developer whose LinkedIn title is “Financial Services at X.” Again, the goal would be to add a peer-to-peer payment feature, inspired by services like Venmo but powered by stablecoin architecture.

Through these initiatives, a critical issue arises: the choice of stablecoin to integrate. Between USDT (often criticized for compliance practices), USDC (affected by uncertainties around Circle’s IPO), and PYUSD (still little adopted), options remain limited.

Some players are even considering creating their own stablecoin, an idea already mentioned but hindered by opposition from some Democratic lawmakers in the United States. For Chris Ahn, partner at Haun Ventures and early investor in the startup Bridge acquired by Stripe, the current dynamics are unprecedented: “stablecoins have existed for a long time, but now we have the right pieces of the puzzle.”

The first concrete signs of growing Big Tech interest in stablecoins may well signal a structural pivot in digital payments approach. As regulatory barriers ease, tech companies are seeking to take the initiative, betting on tools perceived until now as marginal or risky. While some projects remain exploratory, the actions already undertaken by Google Cloud and the ambitions shown by X demonstrate that a new era is beginning.