Apple, X, Airbnb, Google join other Big Tech firms exploring stablecoin adoption: report

The tech giants Apple, X, Airbnb, and Google are holding early conversations with crypto firms about integrating stablecoins to reduce transaction costs and enable cheaper international payments, Fortune Crypto reported Thursdsay, citing anonymous sources. 

They join other tech giants such as Meta and Uber in weighing the adoption of dollar-pegged assets for cheaper transactions amid improved regulatory efforts and investor appetite for stablecoins. 

In May, Meta was reported to be investigating whether stablecoins could reduce international transaction costs for its users, such as Instagram creators, though the firm didn't have a specific stablecoin in mind at the time. More recently, the CEO of the ride-sharing firm Uber said that it is in the "study phase" of whether stablecoins could enable lower transaction costs. 

Elon Musk's social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has already experimented with blockchain-based technology. Musk expressed interest in turning X into a ' super app ' that could integrate digital wallet payments, messaging, and other services comparable to the Chinese app WeChat. However, even before Musk took over, the firm had bolstered its  in-house  crypto team, in addition to  adopting  (and then quietly  phasing out ) a feature that allowed users to set an NFT as their profile picture. 

Earlier Friday, X tapped Polymarket as its ' official ' prediction market partner. Polymarket is perhaps the most popular decentralized prediction market, drawing in $1.06 billion in trading volume from over 267,000 active traders in May, according to The Block's Data Dashboard. 

Meanwhile, USDC issuer Circle finally went public on Thursday after years of prior attempts. The firm's stocks soared nearly 200% above the IPO price of $31, and CRCL shares trade at $112 as of publication, according to TradingView . 

Stablecoins reached their highest-ever market capitalization of $250 billion this month. On-chain volume for Ethereum-based stablecoins alone in May reached $1.42 trillion, with Circle's USDC comprising 41.5% of that, with nearly $589 billion.