Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO and co-founder of Klarna, announced on Saturday that the Swedish buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) Fintech is planning to integrate cryptocurrency into its services.
Siemiatkowski acknowledged that Klarna was among the last major fintech players to enter the crypto space.
Siemiatkowski, who founded Klarna in 2005 with Niklas Adalberth and Victor Jacobsson, has led the company to become a global Buy Now, Pay Later provider.
Klarna currently serves 85 million customers and partners with over 500,000 merchants, processing $100 billion in transaction volume.
While sharing Klarna’s planned crypto adoption, Siemiatkowski sought input from the crypto community on potential implementation strategies.
He asked for suggestions on how to integrate cryptocurrency into Klarna’s services, stating that he had some ideas but was keen to hear more.
Nikhil Chandhok, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Circle, offered to assist, suggesting that Klarna could settle merchant transactions in stablecoins for faster processing and improved cash flow.
Chandhok proposed integrating crypto wallets to enable direct crypto payments for Klarna purchases.
Raghav Gulati, CEO of CoinList, recommended allowing payments with stablecoins on low-cost networks like Solana and suggested holding a small Bitcoin position in Klarna’s treasury as an inflation hedge.
Siemiatkowski’s earlier skepticism about Bitcoin and crypto assets seems to be waning.
In an interview with CNBC in April 2021, he cautioned against promoting these assets as a financial investment product without protection, stating that he was “deeply worried” about the risks associated with cryptocurrency investments.
Klarna’s main competitor, Affirm, has already explored the crypto space.
In late 2021, Affirm launched the “Affirm Crypto Program,” which allowed customers to buy and sell Bitcoin.
However, Affirm discontinued the program in early 2023. This could have been due to the extended bear market which lasted from late 2021 to late 2023 (roughly speaking).
During this time, the crypto space witnessed the spectacular collapse of FTX and the demise of many other questionable crypto platforms. This led to consumers losing confidence in the industry but the whole ecosystem has recovered strongly and the current bull market has onboarded many new institutional investors as well.
Fintech firm Klarna‘s decision to integrate cryptocurrency into its services marks a significant development in the fintech industry.
While the company’s plans are still in the early stages, it is clear that Klarna is committed to exploring the potential of cryptocurrency.
However, it is necessary to be mindful the challenges and risks associated with cryptocurrency integration, including regulatory challenges, security issues, and market volatility.
As Klarna navigates this new industry and ecosystem, it will be interesting to following the company’s progress and the long-term impact of its crypto integration on the fintech sector as a whole.