In brief
- Meta now offers select creators USDC payouts to crypto wallets on the Solana and Polygon blockchains.
- The feature is currently available to a limited group of creators in Colombia and the Philippines.
- Meta emphasized that it’s not issuing its own stablecoin, but using the existing USDC.
Meta has begun allowing content creators to receive earnings in USDC stablecoin directly to their crypto wallets on Solana and Ethereum scaling network Polygon, marking the social media company’s first foray into cryptocurrency payments since abandoning its Diem project in 2022.
The crypto payment system supports popular wallets including MetaMask, Phantom, and Binance, with Stripe serving as the payments provider to handle the technical infrastructure. Only creators in Colombia and the Philippines are currently eligible for stablecoin payouts.
When reached by Decrypt, a Meta spokesperson emphasized that the firm is “not issuing a Meta stablecoin.” Instead, the company is tapping Circle’s USDC, the second-largest stablecoin with a market cap of over $77 billion.
“We strive to offer the most relevant payment methods, which is why we are exploring how stablecoins could become part of our suite of options,” the spokesperson added.
The geographic selection reflects Meta’s strategy of testing financial features in emerging markets where crypto adoption often outpaces traditional banking infrastructure.
Meta’s stablecoin adoption represents a strategic reversal from its earlier crypto ambitions. The company shut down its Libra project, later renamed Diem, in 2022 after facing intense regulatory scrutiny. Stablecoin interest among U.S. companies has grown substantially since last year’s signing of the GENIUS Act, which regulates the dollar-pegged crypto tokens.
Chainalysis projects stablecoin trading volume could reach $1.5 quadrillion by 2035, reflecting growing confidence in digital dollar payment rails among traditional finance players.
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Source: https://decrypt.co/366087/meta-launches-usdc-stablecoin-creator-payouts-on-solana-and-polygon-via-stripe
