Crypto, Fintechs Race to Own Stablecoin Settlement Rails

Stablecoin issuers and fintech-linked firms are launching payment-focused blockchains as they try to control more of the settlement infrastructure behind US digital-dollar transfers.

Some stablecoin issuers and fintech-linked companies are building a new wave of blockchain networks designed for institutional payment flows rather than the broader token issuance and smart-contract activity associated with general-purpose layer-1 networks, according to Delphi Digital.

These include stablecoin giant Tether-backed Plasma, a public L1 network optimized for cross-border USDt (USDT) transactions, which launched on mainnet on Sept. 25, 2025 after it raised $24 million in February. A month later, stablecoin issuer Circle launched the public testnet for Arc, which it describes as an open L1 blockchain purpose-built for stablecoin finance.

The developments add to signs of a structural shift from generic blockchain infrastructure toward payment-focused networks, as companies compete to control the rails underpinning stablecoin settlement, which Delphi Digital described as one of crypto’s clearest real-world use cases.

Fintech companies have also joined the payments infrastructure push, seeking to carve out a market share of the growing stablecoin payments sector.

Owning the payment rails is becoming “strategically important,” Ran Goldi, senior vice president of payments and network at digital asset custody platform Fireblocks, told Cointelegraph. He said:

For payment companies, owning the underlying rails means they avoid being “taxed” for the mint and burn operations of the stablecoin, added Goldi.

Fintech companies are also joining the stablecoin chain wars

Tempo said Wednesday that its mainnet is live, describing the network as a merchant-focused settlement layer built for high-throughput stablecoin transactions. The project says it is incubated by Paradigm and Stripe.

In October 2024, Stripe acquired stablecoin infrastructure startup Birdge for $1.1 billion. In June 2025, it acquired crypto wallet infrastructure provider Privy and later bought billing platform Metronome on Jan. 14.

Delphi Digital said those deals positioned Stripe to control more of the issuance, wallet and billing layers around stablecoin payments alongside settlement infrastructure.

Stablecoin payment infrastructure is increasingly seen as a new “revenue layer,” positioning entities controlling the end-to-end payment workflow to capture fees on every transaction, according to Alvin Kan, chief operating officer at Bitget Wallet.

“As settlement costs at the protocol level trend lower, value capture shifts to the orchestration layer around the rail: compliance, FX conversion, wallet infrastructure, on- and off-ramps, local payout connectivity and merchant integration,” he told Cointelegraph.

Related: Stablecoins to replace old FX rails, but off-ramps remain a chokepoint

Controlling the settlement infrastructure behind stablecoins is the next battleground among crypto and fintech firms, according to Irina Chuchkina, chief growth officer of Wallet in Telegram. She said:

Companies building settlement rails interoperable with agentic artificial intelligence stand to “capture a disproportionate share of the value flowing through these networks,” she added.

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