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Klarna has partnered with Coinbase to introduce stablecoins into its institutional funding strategy as part of a broader exploration of blockchain-based finance.
The Swedish buy now, pay later firm plans to raise short-term funding from institutional investors using USDC-denominated instruments through Coinbase infrastructure.
Klarna said the initiative is designed to support treasury and capital markets operations rather than consumer-facing crypto products.
The new funding channel will operate alongside existing sources such as customer deposits, long-term debt and commercial paper.
This is an exciting first step into a new way to raise funding.
Klarna chief financial officer Niclas Neglén said.
Stablecoin connects us to an entirely new class of institutional investors, and gives us the potential to diversify our funding sources in ways that simply weren't possible a few years ago.
Neglén added.
Klarna said the stablecoin programme remains under development and is subject to regulatory, market and operational risks.
The company cautioned that outcomes could differ from expectations depending on compliance requirements and market conditions.
Klarna selected Coinbase due to its experience providing crypto infrastructure services to large global enterprises.
Coinbase currently supports more than 260 businesses worldwide with custody, settlement and blockchain-based financial services.
Klarna said the funding initiative is separate from its longer-term plans for consumer and merchant crypto services.
Those plans may include wallets or additional digital asset features, with further progress expected in 2026.
The payments firm has already expanded its digital asset footprint through the launch of a proprietary stablecoin.
Last month, Klarna introduced a US dollar–pegged stablecoin called KlarnaUSD on Tempo’s testnet.
Tempo is a layer-1 blockchain developed by Stripe and Paradigm, with a mainnet launch planned for 2026.
KlarnaUSD was built by Bridge, a stablecoin infrastructure firm owned by Stripe.
The launch extended Klarna’s long-standing partnership with Stripe across its global payments network.
Klarna said clearer regulation has supported institutional interest in stablecoin-based funding models.
In July, the United States passed the GENIUS Act, establishing clearer rules for stablecoin issuance.