Competition among cryptocurrency and fintech companies over stablecoin payment infrastructure is intensifying.

Tether launched Plasma and Circle rolled out Arc, unveiling payment-focused blockchains. Tether's Plasma is a network optimised for cross-border USDT transactions, and launched its mainnet in September last year.

Circle also joined the competition by releasing a testnet for Arc, which is specialised for stablecoin payments. Fintech companies are also moving. Stripe-backed Tempo launched a mainnet for high-speed stablecoin payments.

In October 2024, stablecoin infrastructure startup Bridge was also acquired for $1.1 billion.

It is strengthening its payment network by additionally acquiring cryptocurrency wallet infrastructure company Privy in June 2025 and payment platform Metronome in January 2026.

Cointelegraph reported that the reason cryptocurrency and fintech companies are trying to build payment infrastructure directly is profitability. Alvin Kan (앨빈 칸), chief operating officer of Bitget Wallet, analysed it by saying, "As payment costs decrease at the protocol level, value is shifting to the coordination layer around the rails (regulation, foreign exchange, wallet infrastructure, merchant integration and more)."

Irina Chuchkina (이리나 추치키나), chief growth officer at Telegram Wallet, said, "The company that controls payment infrastructure will monopolise network value," and forecast that the possibility of linking with AI will act as a new variable.