Chime is exploring stablecoin wallet services for its banking app

Chime reaches out to blockchain firms over stablecoin plans

Chime, widely regarded as the largest neobank in the United States, is weighing a move into stablecoin-powered wallet services. According to Bloomberg, the company asked blockchain firms in late spring to submit proposals for end-to-end stablecoin wallet solutions that could be integrated directly into its consumer banking app.

Infrastructure startup Rain was among the companies that held discussions with @Chime as part of that process. No deal has been confirmed, and Chime has not committed to a launch. No timeline or product details have been publicly disclosed.

Rain: a rising force in stablecoin infrastructure

Rain is a private financial technology company founded in 2021. The company provides stablecoin-powered payment infrastructure, enabling businesses to issue payment cards and digital wallets funded by cryptocurrencies. The company raised $250 million in a Series C funding round to scale its stablecoin payments infrastructure, a round that valued it at $1.95 billion. Rain's platform is used by more than 200 companies and facilitates over $3 billion in annualized transactions.

Rain describes itself as the global stablecoin payments platform for enterprises, neobanks, platforms, and developers, with technology that allows partners to move, store, and use stablecoins instantly and compliantly through global payment cards, rewards, on/offramps, wallets, and cross-border rails. The startup works with neobanks who want to let their customers use crypto deposits, instead of US dollars, to settle charges on payment cards.

The talks come as mainstream financial institutions move closer to stablecoin adoption following clearer regulation. Enterprise interest in stablecoins has surged following the GENIUS Act in the US and the MiCA framework in Europe, which have created a clearer regulatory path for adoption. Traditional neobanks like Chime do not hold bank charters and operate as technology layers on top of core banking systems provided by licensed institutions. Chime, for example, partners with The Bancorp Bank and Stride Bank.

Whether Chime ultimately builds, buys, or passes on stablecoin capabilities remains to be seen. For now, the exploratory conversations alone signal that even the most mainstream digital banks are taking the technology seriously.

Sources:
Rain Raises $250 Million to Scale Stablecoin Card Platform (PYMNTS)
Rain Partners with Mastercard in Push for Institutional Customers (Fortune)
Rain Raises $58M Series B (Fintech Futures)