Walmart and Amazon Stablecoins: Why 2025 Could Be a Turning Point in Retail Payments
Summary
Walmart and Amazon are preparing to launch their own branded stablecoins.
This comes as Congress advances the GENIUS Act—set to become the first U.S. stablecoin law.
With over $760 billion in combined revenue, both retailers stand to save billions in card processing fees.
Here’s how this move could redefine payment rails, regulation, and revenue in American retail.
Introduction: Why Now?
As of June 2025, the U.S. Senate is poised to pass the GENIUS Act, a sweeping stablecoin bill with bipartisan support. This legislative clarity has opened the door for retail giants Walmart and Amazon to seriously explore issuing their own USD-backed stablecoins—a move that could radically cut costs, accelerate settlements, and potentially end their dependence on Visa and Mastercard.
With the GENIUS Act likely to pass this month, this shift is more than speculative. It’s strategic.
Trend Breakdown
The GENIUS Act: A Federal Framework for Stablecoins
| Key Provision | Details |
|---|---|
| Senate Vote Date | June 17, 2025 |
| Backing Rule | 1:1 USD or equivalent liquid reserves |
| Audit Rule | Annual audits for issuers >$50B |
| Foreign Oversight | Tightened controls on non-U.S. issuers |
Market Projection: Treasury estimates a $2 trillion U.S. stablecoin market by 2028.
Why Retailers Care: The Card Fee Crisis
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| U.S. merchant swipe fees (2023) | $172 billion |
| Visa + Mastercard share | $100.7 billion |
| Typical processing fee | 1.5–3.5% per transaction |
| Walmart estimated fee (2025) | $4–5 billion |
| Amazon 2024 revenue | $638 billion |
Walmart’s historical fee burden was $3B as far back as 2013. It’s now even bigger.
The Rise of Lightning & USDC
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Lightning fee savings | Up to 50% less than credit cards |
| USDC on Lightning | Launched May 2025 by Speed Payments |
| USDC monthly volume | $1T (Nov 2024) |
| Global user base | 500M+ wallets supported |
Steak ’n Shake captured 1 in 500 BTC transactions globally on Day 1 of Lightning rollout.
What Walmart and Amazon Are Building
Walmart
- ONE Super App targeting 100M+ shoppers
- Acquisitions: ONE Finance, Even Responsible Finance
- Filed trademarks for NFT/crypto offerings
- Web3: Flipkart Labs in India testing metaverse commerce
Amazon
- A2A (Account-to-Account) Open Banking initiatives
- Embedded BNPL via Affirm
- Global payment rails via AWS and Amazon Payments
- “Pay By Bank” feature under development
Market Comparisons
| Issuer | Token | Market Cap | Strategy |
|---|---|---|---|
| PayPal | PYUSD | $868M | 3.7% yield to boost use |
| Tether | USDT | $155B (2025) | Largest in market |
| Circle | USDC | $61B (2025) | B2B and compliance-focused |
| Stripe | n/a | $1T volume (2024) | Accepts USDC on Solana, ETH, Polygon |
U.S. Stablecoin Market Snapshot
| Metric | 2024 | 2025 YTD |
|---|---|---|
| Total Market Cap | $195B | $228B |
| USDC Cap | $44B | $61B |
| USDT Cap | $137B | $155B |
| Active Wallets | 19.6M | 30M |
| B2B Payment Volume | — | $36B annual run rate |
53% growth in stablecoin wallets YoY.
Payment Infrastructure Under Threat
- Retailers form consortiums to launch joint stablecoins
- Expedia, major banks (e.g. JPMorgan, BofA) exploring stablecoin pilot
- Potential to bypass Visa/Mastercard rails entirely
- Issuers earn yield from Treasury-backed reserves, creating new revenue streams
Why It Matters
- Retail Efficiency: Every 1% saved on fees = billions gained
- Consumer Trust: Branded tokens may offer more utility and faster refunds
- Regulatory Milestone: U.S. may finally get a clear crypto payments framework
- Competitive Edge: Whoever owns the payment rail owns the customer loop
If stablecoins work at scale, traditional card networks could lose their dominance for the first time in decades.
Takeaways
- Walmart and Amazon could save billions by avoiding Visa/Mastercard rails
- GENIUS Act would provide legal clarity for branded stablecoins
- Lightning + USDC are paving the way for near-zero cost, instant retail payments
- Retail-led stablecoins could challenge PayPal, banks, and even crypto-native players
- 2025 may be remembered as the year stablecoins went mainstream in retail
Chart Suggestion
Title: “Credit Card Swipe Fees vs. Potential Stablecoin Cost Savings”
Bar chart comparing:
- 2023 Walmart card fee estimate ($4–5B)
- Amazon estimated payment processing volume
- Projected savings from Lightning/USDC (30–50%)
- Total U.S. swipe fee market ($172B)
Sources
- Wall Street Journal – Amazon, Walmart Explore Stablecoins
- CryptoQuant – Stablecoin Market Capitalization Trends
- Stripe – Crypto Payments Update (2024)
- PayPal – PYUSD Performance and Yield Strategy
- U.S. Department of the Treasury – Stablecoin Market Projections
- DefiLlama – Stablecoin Metrics Dashboard
- Circle – USDC Growth and Ecosystem Overview
- Klarna – BNPL and Consumer Insights , Affirm – Embedded Finance in Retail
- Lightning Network – USDC on Lightning and Enterprise Metrics
- Congress.gov – GENIUS Act Legislative Tracker (2025)
