Payoneer has announced plans to launch stablecoin capabilities embedded within its platform, powered by Bridge, a stablecoin infrastructure platform owned by Stripe.
The capabilities will enable businesses to receive, hold, and send stablecoins as part of global financial operations. Payoneer will launch the functionality in select markets in the second quarter of 2026, with broader availability rolling out throughout the year as functionality and market coverage expand.
Stablecoin adoption is accelerating with use cases offering faster settlement and programmable money movement. However, cross-border businesses, particularly those in emerging markets, face practical integration challenges, including stablecoin conversion to local currencies, fragmented workflows, blockchain complexity, and evolving regulatory environments.
Bridge infrastructure supports embedded stablecoin functionality
Bridge provides stablecoin infrastructure enabling businesses to integrate digital currency capabilities without direct blockchain protocol management. Stripe acquired Bridge in 2025 to expand stablecoin payment infrastructure for its platform customers.
Payoneer serves small and medium enterprises, freelancers, and marketplace sellers requiring cross-border payment capabilities. The company processes payments across more than 190 countries, providing multi-currency accounts, payment collection, and mass payout services.
The stablecoin integration aims to address settlement speed and operational hours limitations in traditional cross-border payment systems. Stablecoins settle transactions within minutes compared to days for correspondent banking transfers, operating continuously without banking hour restrictions.
Regulatory frameworks for stablecoin usage vary across jurisdictions. The EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation establishes requirements for e-money token issuers, including reserve management and redemption rights. US regulatory approaches remain fragmented across federal agencies and state-level money transmission frameworks.
Market positioning in cross-border payments
Stablecoin adoption in business payments remains limited compared to cryptocurrency trading and decentralised finance applications. Practical barriers include accounting treatment uncertainty, tax reporting complexity, and treasury management integration challenges.
Bridge's infrastructure layer abstracts blockchain technical complexity, enabling businesses to interact with stablecoins through API connections rather than managing wallet infrastructure, private keys, or blockchain node operations directly.
The announcement follows increased institutional interest in stablecoin infrastructure, with payment companies including Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal deploying or exploring stablecoin capabilities for cross-border settlement and merchant payments.
