In a significant move, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has begun offering payouts in stablecoins to its creators, marking a renewed foray into crypto-based payments after abandoning its Libra project. This feature is currently available to a limited number of creators in Colombia and the Philippines, as per the information on Meta's website. Eligible creators can link their crypto wallets to receive payouts in USDC, a stablecoin issued by Circle, on the Solana or Polygon blockchain networks.

Payments firm Stripe is providing support for this service, including crypto-related reporting for users, who may also receive tax documents from both Meta and Stripe related to their earnings and digital asset transactions. A spokesperson from Stripe confirmed their involvement in this initiative. Jay Shah, head of Link at Stripe, stated, 'Businesses can now send stablecoin payouts directly to customers using Link. We are already partnering with Meta to enable their creators to receive stablecoins in their Link wallets in countries such as the Philippines and Colombia.' This development follows Meta's earlier efforts to collaborate with third-party vendors for administering stablecoin payments on its platforms, with Stripe being a leading contender.

By doing so, Meta, with its vast user base of over 3 billion across its social media platforms globally, is now among the largest tech companies to experiment with stablecoins for real-world payments, leveraging blockchain technology to facilitate global transactions without relying on traditional banking systems. Stablecoins, whose values are pegged to fiat currencies, are increasingly being seen as a faster and more economical payment method. For instance, Visa reported that its stablecoin settlement network reached $7 billion in annualized transaction volume, marking a 50% growth in a quarter.

This initiative marks Meta's re-entry into the stablecoin space after its earlier attempt to introduce the Libra token, later renamed Diem, which was shut down in 2022 due to regulatory scrutiny.