Fintech and crypto firms race to control stablecoin payment rails

Cryptocurrency companies and fintech firms are competing to build their own infrastructure to secure revenue from stablecoin payments, Cointelegraph reported, citing a Delphi Digital report. The report noted that stablecoin issuers are launching dedicated blockchain networks optimized for payments, such as Tether's Plasma and Circle's Arc. This move is seen as a strategy to capture more revenue by operating their own layers rather than paying fees to external networks like Ethereum. Meanwhile, payments giant Stripe is vertically integrating its wallet and payment processes through a series of acquisitions. These include the $1.1 billion purchase of stablecoin infrastructure startup Bridge in October 2024, followed by wallet infrastructure firm Privy in June 2025 and DeFi protocol Metronome in January 2026. The industry anticipates that whichever entity dominates stablecoin payment rails could achieve a market position similar to that of Visa and Mastercard in the current payments landscape.