Meta Platforms Inc is plotting another stab at a dollar-backed stablecoin, this time through a third-party partnership. Sources say the tech giant will issue a product request (RFP) to multiple vendors and likely settle on payment processor Stripe for the integration, targeting the early second half of 2026 for launch.
Stripe Ties Run Deep
Stripe bought stablecoin infrastructure firm Bridge last year, giving it a ready-made toolkit. Its CEO, Patrick Collison, joined Meta's board in April 2025—a connection that makes Stripe the natural frontrunner. For Meta, outsourcing the stablecoin and wallet avoids the regulatory quagmire that killed its previous in-house projects.
Social Payments Race Heats Up
Telegram already runs a live stablecoin payments system. X (formerly Twitter) has moved from internal testing to its first external beta. Meta is chasing the same goal: turning its 3 billion monthly active users into a revenue engine via transaction fees. The company just posted Q4 2025 revenue of $59.89 billion, up 24% year-over-year. A working stablecoin could add a lucrative new line.
A Rocky History, a Cautious Return
Meta launched Libra in 2019, rebranded it to Diem in 2020 amid regulatory pushback, and pulled the plug in 2022—selling the IP to Silvergate Bank for $182 million. Novi, its digital wallet tied to Diem, also shuttered. Now, under the looming GENIUS Act stablecoin framework in the U.S., Meta prefers to test the waters from a distance. As one insider put it: “They want to do this, but at arm's length.”