Swedish payment giant Klarna has launched its first stablecoin, KlarnaUSD, ahead of schedule. The new digital asset is designed to provide faster and cheaper cross-border payment solutions for its customer base of 114 million users. The stablecoin is built on "tempo," a payments blockchain infrastructure backed by major industry players Stripe and Paradigm. This initiative marks Klarna as the first bank to utilize the Tempo network for stablecoin issuance, aiming to leverage the efficiency of blockchain technology for settlements. The launch taps into a massive market, with stablecoin annual transaction volumes reportedly reaching $27 trillion. This strategic move positions Klarna to capture significant efficiency gains within the global payments ecosystem by integrating blockchain-based settlement layers. [Update 1] Additional reporting confirms the launch details, emphasizing the $27 trillion market opportunity Klarna aims to capture and reiterating the strategic partnership with the Stripe-backed Tempo infrastructure.