In a move that has the potential to usher in a new era of cross-border payments, Sling Money is introducing its US and European Virtual Accounts—combining the accessibility of traditional payment rails with the efficiency of tokenization. According to Sling, these accounts will go beyond peer-to-peer transactions, enabling users to receive payments in their local currency from multiple locations around the world.
Designed as a global equivalent to Venmo, Sling Money lets users route payments into either a U.S. account and routing number or a European IBAN. This means they can receive funds in both dollars and euros—directly into their Sling Wallet.
“Sling Money has bridged two separate systems—local banking rails like ACH and stablecoins—into a single seamless app,” said Joel Hugentobler, Cryptocurrency Analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research. “This will significantly reduce friction in cross-border payments.”
Founded three years ago, Sling Money launched in the U.S. last November and is now available in more than 75 countries. In addition to ACH, it also plans to expand into using RTP and FedNow as payment rails.
An Alliance with Bridge
A key development in all of this was Sling’s acquisition of the regulated financial infrastructure provider Bridge in February. Bridge’s technology converts incoming payments into stablecoins—either the Pax Dollar, a dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Paxos Trust Company, or the Euro Coin, issued by Circle. Sling then transfers the chosen stablecoin to the user’s wallet, where the funds can be held within the app or converted into local currency for a small fee.
“Stripe’s acquisition of Bridge, now powering Sling Money’s accounts, signals that one of the biggest fintechs in the world is leading the charge with stablecoin infrastructure and seamless payment applications,” said Hugentobler. “It also gives Sling greater credibility and probably scalability as well. There’s clearly a convergence of traditional and blockchain based fintech going on here.”
The Stablecoin Difference
Stablecoins are increasingly playing a key role in cross-border payments. According to the Bank for International Settlements, bitcoin, ether, and other leading stablecoins facilitated roughly $600 billion in cross-border transactions in Q2 2024 alone.
“This highlights the validity of stablecoins as a payment option thesis,” said Hugentobler. “Stripe is ahead of many of its competitors in the way that it is already enabling regulated crypto payments through Bridge.”
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