SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO– Stripe plans to expand its stablecoin card business to more than 100 countries by year-end.
Henri Stern, the company’s new head of cryptocurrency and stablecoins, and CEO and co-founder of crypto wallet infrastructure provider Privy, is taking on responsibility for Stripe’s cryptocurrency operations while continuing to lead Privy, which Stripe acquired last year.
The stablecoin card offering combines Stripe’s card-issuing business, which has issued more than 400 million cards since 2018, with stablecoin infrastructure from Stripe-owned Bridge, according to CoinDesk.
Stern said the platform supports different stablecoins and blockchains, allowing customers to choose the technologies they use.
Stripe’s card business is “completely stablecoin agnostic, completely blockchain agnostic,” Stern told CoinDesk, allowing customers to “mix and match their stack in exactly the way they want.”
In a post on X announcing his expanded role, Stern said he would help establish Stripe’s priorities and build a stablecoin developer platform designed to be open, modular and available globally.
Visa Partnership
The expansion builds on a partnership between Visa and Bridge, which announced in March that they would broaden the stablecoin-linked card program introduced in 2025.
At the time, the program operated in 18 countries, with plans to reach more than 100 across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific by year-end.
Visa said Bridge enables businesses and financial technology developers to offer stablecoin-backed Visa cards. Through Bridge’s partnership with Lead Bank, transactions using those cards can be settled on a blockchain, Visa said.
Stripe also announced Sept. 30 that Open USD, or OUSD, had joined the stablecoin options available to businesses using its financial infrastructure.
