- Klarna’s CEO, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, has announced the company’s intention to embrace cryptocurrency
- Siemiatkowski solicited suggestions from the public on how Klarna should integrate crypto into its services
- The move comes as Klarna prepares for a potential U.S. initial public offering
Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Swedish fintech giant Klarna, has declared the company’s plans to adopt cryptocurrency. This development aligns with Klarna’s anticipated U.S. initial public offering (IPO), signaling a strategic shift towards digital assets. Klarna’s crypto plans are at a very early stage and will take some time to implement, but this would be a huge step forward for the adoption of crypto in everyday life.
“I Give Up”
Siemiatkowski announced Klarna’s crypto intentions via X on Saturday, seemingly after a barrage of requests from the crypto community:
Ok. I give up. Klarna and me will embrace crypto! More to come
Yes I know! This post will get a huge sigh and 2 views 😂
But it still feels historic. Last large fintech in the world to embrace it. Someone had to be last. And that’s a milestone as well of some sort… 🥳
— Sebastian Siemiatkowski (@klarnaseb) February 8, 2025
Following his announcement, Siemiatkowski engaged with the crypto community, asking, “BTW all crypto fans. Tell me what we should do with it?” He highlighted Klarna’s extensive network, including 85 million users worldwide, $100 billion in transaction volume, over 500,000 merchants, and more than 1 million issued cards.
Bringing crypto to this community would, therefore, be a huge boost to its credentials as a mainstream payment option.
Siemiatkowski Opens Can of Worms
Siemiatkowski’s request for advice from crypto Twitter resulted in what anyone who has spent any time inside it would have expected: people shilling their own projects or favorite tokens, with no regard for their legitimacy or popularity. There were, however, some more useful takes:
Low hanging fruit:
– Stablecoins make Klarna available in the global south
– Tokens as loyalty points
– DeFi and Treasury yieldKickass stuff
– Klarna loyalty tokens
– Redeemable anywhere
– Tokenized merchant ad network (ultimate attribution – see @coinbase Spindl)— Simon Taylor (@sytaylor) February 9, 2025
Klarna’s decision to embrace cryptocurrency marks a significant shift in its strategic direction, but with 60 crypto ETFs now being considered by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Klarna is clearly keeping an eye on the future as it seeks to bolster its IPO options.
