Bolt Embraces Stablecoin Payments for Global Marketplaces as Digital Dollar Race Heats Up

Bolt, San Francisco-based checkout and payments platform, said on Friday it has added support for stablecoin payments, a move aimed at streamlining cross-border commerce for marketplaces and merchants using its network.

The addition is part of Bolt Connect, a new product focused on helping digital marketplaces scale quickly by automating merchant onboarding, compliance and payouts.

For merchants, receiving stablecoin payments means fewer bank intermediaries, faster settlements and lower transaction costs, the company explained the initiative in the press release. Consumers can benefit, too: a shopper without a bank account or buying from a store across the world can pay instantly using digital dollars without incurring foreign transaction fees or waiting on credit card clearances.

"Marketplaces shouldn't have to choose between scale and simplicity," said Ryan Breslow, Founder and CEO of Bolt. "With Bolt Connect, we're giving them the tools to grow without the usual technical burden, while stablecoin support opens the door to faster, borderless payments for everyone in the network."

Bolt is the latest example of global payment firms like Mastercard, Visa and Stripe racing to embrace stablecoins, a type of digital currency with prices anchored to an external asset such as fiat currencies, into their offerings. It's a $260 billion, and rapidly growing, asset class which promises programmable transactions and faster, cheaper cross-border payments than through traditional banking channels. Adoption is expected to accelerate after the U.S. Senate passed the GENIUS Act to regulate the stablecoin sector.

Bolt's stablecoin initiative came on the heels of debuting its financial "SuperApp" that allows users to hold, send and receive cryptocurrencies including stablecoins within the application.