Big Retail Gets Into Crypto With Amazon and Walmart Exploring Stablecoins

Key Takeaways

• Companies including Amazon, Walmart, and Expedia Group are reportedly considering issuing their own stablecoins.
• They could also band together to form a consortium.
• Stablecoins could help retailers circumvent traditional payment rails and transaction fees.

Amazon, Walmart, and Expedia Group are among major corporations considering issuing their own stablecoins, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, June 16.

With stablecoins on track to receive a regulatory boost and enhanced legitimacy via the GENIUS Act, launching their own tokens could help companies transform a business expense into a profit opportunity. 

Stablecoins: Not Just for Fintechs

Until recently, issuing stablecoins was almost exclusively the preserve of financial technology companies like Circle and Tether.

But with Santander and Société Générale getting in on the act, there is growing momentum behind a new generation of bank-issued stablecoins.

The Journal stated that Walmart, Amazon, and others are exploring creating new dollar-pegged tokens to power payment flows.

Amazon’s efforts are still in the early stages, but reportedly include a discussion of using the company’s own coin for online purchases.

Another possibility is that a consortium of retailers will band together to back an independent stablecoin issued by a new or existing issuer.

Circumventing Traditional Payments

While there are several different ways companies could incorporate stablecoins, they all present the opportunity to circumvent traditional payment rails. This could potentially save retailers billions of dollars in card fees.

Meanwhile, although large bank transfers are generally cheaper than equivalent stablecoin transactions, the latter settle much faster.

This is especially true for cross-border payments, which can take days to settle via the correspondent banking system.

Profit Opportunity

Stablecoins could reduce payment fees and generate new revenue for the companies that issue them. 

Stablecoin issuers profit from the interest paid on their reserve assets, which consist mostly of U.S. Treasuries and other cash-like investments.

For example, in the first quarter of 2025, Tether reported an operating profit of over a billion dollars, “driven by solid performance in its U.S. Treasury portfolio.”