The news: Klarna sealed a research partnership with Stripe-owned Privy to develop a crypto wallet for Klarna users, per a press release.

How we got here: Klarna has been ramping up its crypto presence, most recently by developing its own stablecoin, KlarnaUSD, through a partnership with Bridge and Tempo (also owned by Stripe).

This is an about face from the Swedish fintech: CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski was described as a “vocal crypto skeptic” in a previous Klarna press release. 

Why this matters: Crypto payments have so far failed to gain meaningful traction, but payment providers like Klarna could position themselves to make incremental gains early on

• Klarna is building a sprawling network of global consumers and businesses—active users grew 32% YoY to 114 million in Q3, per Q3 2025 earnings, and its global seller base jumped 38% to 850,000. The right incentives could convert those users from traditional payments like cards or pay by bank,  which are slower and more expensive for cross-border transactions. 
• Klarna also has bank-like services that could become vehicles for promoting stablecoin use—like if it offered better rates on savings accounts denominated in KlarnaUSD or better terms on KlarnaUSD loans. 

Our take: Klarna’s jump into crypto could help pad its margins and keep users more enmeshed in its growing ecosystem of financial services. 

But fintechs dabbling in stablecoins now still need to overcome the overwhelming inertia facing stablecoin payments. Consumers just aren’t interested in crypto payments, and unless they see immediate, concrete benefits for making the switch, KlarnaUSD and other proprietary stablecoins—like PayPalUSD—will have limited addressable markets.