Swedish fintech giant Klarna signals major move into crypto ahead of April IPO

Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski has announced plans to integrate crypto into the fintech giant’s platform, as the company prepares for its highly anticipated IPO in the U.S. this April.

In his recent post on X, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Swedish fintech Klarna, revealed plans to integrate crypto into the platform. The announcement comes as the company prepares for a major milestone—its initial public offering in the U.S., expected in April. With a valuation potentially reaching $15 billion, Klarna’s IPO could become one of the biggest listings of the year.

Siemiatkowski took to X to ask the crypto community for their input. He acknowledged that he has his own ideas for how crypto can be integrated into Klarna’s services but is eager to hear from the community. He stated that Klarna already serves 85 million users globally, processes $100 billion in transaction volume, and works with over 500,000 merchants. He also highlighted that around 30% of transactions are debit-based rather than credit. 

Frank Schuil, co-founder and chairman of Safello AB, a leading Nordic crypto exchange, Schuil suggested that Klarna could combine its BNPL model with crypto, potentially processing billions of dollars in digital assets.

Marshall Hayner, founder of Metallicus and Metal Pay, recommended that Klarna integrate with the Metal ecosystem. Hayner suggested launching a stablecoin and setting up a Klarna subnet to allow for digital asset trading and DeFi services.

Nikhil Chandhok, a product and technology lead at Circle, also emphasized the efficiency that stablecoin systems could bring to Klarna’s payment processes. He said that settling payments with merchants in stablecoin could be quicker and smoother than traditional methods, and proposed the option for users to link their crypto wallets to Klarna to make international transactions easier.