(Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg News)
Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc. are among large multinational companies that have recently discussed issuing their own stablecoins in the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people.
Expedia Group Inc. and airlines have held similar deliberations, the WSJ said. Stablecoins are crypto tokens typically pegged to a currency like the dollar, making them better suited to using for payments than more volatile coins.
President Donald Trump’s return to power in the U.S. and legislation making its way through Congress have sparked renewed enthusiasm for stablecoins, which advocates say could dramatically cut the cost of payment and speed up transfers.
Tether Holdings SA’s USDT, by far the biggest stablecoin, has seen its circulation swell to $155 billion.
(Alan Diaz/Associated Press)
Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. fell in premarket trading, with Visa slipping as much as 2.8% and Mastercard dropping 1.7%. Any moves by Amazon, Walmart and other global retailers to set up their own blockchain-based payment rails could hit credit card issuers’ revenue.
Banks around the world, concerned that the lucrative business of handling payments and transfers could be at risk, are also moving to issue stablecoins. Deutsche Bank AG and Banco Santander SA are among lenders considering such tokens, Bloomberg News has reported.
Walmart ranks No. 1 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest private carriers in North America.
Amazon.com Inc. ranks No. 1 on the TT Top 100 list of the largest logistics carriers in North America, No. 12 on the TT100 list of the largest private carriers and No. 1 on the Top 50 Global Freight list.
