Apple, X, Meta, Airbnb, Google: the biggest American companies are jumping on the crypto bandwagon. Is widespread adoption inevitable?
Cryptos soon to be used by the biggest companies
Since Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, cryptocurrencies have been making waves. While they had previously evolved more or less at a distance from the general public, due in part to the SEC’s war against them, they are gradually being eyed by the biggest companies.
Apple, X and Airbnb are just some of the companies currently looking into how to incorporate crypto into their business, according to Fortune. However, this would not involve cryptocurrencies in the broad sense, but rather stablecoins. As a reminder, these cryptos aim to replicate an on-chain currency with a one-to-one parity. For example, 1 USDT, the most capitalized stablecoin on the market, is worth $1.
Until now, tech giants have been wary of these new currencies. Under Biden, they have been openly targeted by the authorities for increasingly vague reasons. All in all, not enough to make the biggest American companies want to take the plunge. But the tide is turning, thanks in particular to two bills currently being considered by Congress that aim to clearly regulate stablecoins.
Stablecoins offer many advantages for companies that handle large volumes of money, not least because of their instantaneous nature. An on-chain transaction is carried out, validated, and verifiable in real time. Another advantage is their low transaction costs, at a time when tech companies are looking to reduce their dependence on traditional intermediaries such as Visa and Mastercard in favor of more economical solutions.
Discussions already underway
A few months ago, we learned that X Money, the future digital wallet of Elon Musk’s dream “Super App,” would integrate cryptocurrencies before the end of the year. According to Fortune, the platform is in talks with Stripe to integrate stablecoins for this purpose.
Airbnb, the international rental giant, is reportedly in talks with Worldpay, while remaining “attentive to developments in the sector,” according to a company spokesperson. “Crypto payments are not an immediate priority,” he said.
Also according to Fortune, Alphabet subsidiary Google Cloud is the furthest along in updating its payment systems with blockchain. This is thanks to PYUSD, PayPal’s stablecoin launched with Paxos. “The billing and settlement process remains the same, except that payment is made in stablecoins,” said Rich Widmann, head of Web3 strategy at Google Cloud.
Meta, which abandoned its Diem project following political pressure, is also said to be back in the race.
Finally, Apple has reportedly been in talks with Matt Cavin of Circle since January. Circle is the issuer of USDC, the second most capitalized stablecoin on the market and “the most regulated” according to its CEO. And today, regulated means easily adopted.
Little by little, the contours of a future based on stablecoins are taking shape: predictions that the market capitalization of stablecoins could reach $1.6 trillion within five years no longer seem so far-fetched.
