Georgia Just Made One of the Boldest Stablecoin Moves by Any Government Yet
Hey Payments Fanatic!
Tether and the Government of Georgia are launching a national stablecoin together.
And that’s a much bigger signal than it may sound at first glance.
The new GEL₮ stablecoin will represent the Georgian Lari on digital rails, making Georgia one of the first countries to officially work with a private stablecoin issuer at the government level under a dedicated regulatory framework.
What makes this especially interesting is the timing.
Over the past few weeks, Tether reported more than $1 billion in quarterly profit, increased its reserve buffer to a record $8.23 billion, and expanded its U.S. Treasury exposure to roughly $141 billion. At the same time, the company has been deepening its Bitcoin and infrastructure strategy through moves like increasing its ownership in Twenty One Capital.
In other words, Tether is increasingly behaving less like a crypto company and more like a parallel financial infrastructure layer.
And Georgia seems to understand where this is heading earlier than most governments.
Today's remaining Payments headlines are just below. 👇 See you tomorrow!
Cheers,
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📊 LATAM Payments Ecosystem
NEWS
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GOLDEN NUGGET
𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐥 — 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐥. 𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬.👇Created by Arthur Bedel 💳 ♻️
MPP isn't a payment method — it's a protocol.
And it supports two fundamentally different transaction architectures. The choice impacts everything: credential ownership, settlement rails, and what the agent actually holds.
Let's break it down.
──────────────────────
𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝟏 — 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 (𝐒𝐏𝐓) | 𝐅𝐢𝐚𝐭 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬
──────────────────────
The fiat path — cards, wallets, Link.
An SPT is a pre-authorized, scoped credential created once by a human and delegated to an agent.
The flow:
→ Agent requests a paid resource
→ Server returns HTTP 402 with payment requirements
→ Agent creates an SPT via Stripe (card captured via Elements)
→ Stripe returns the SPT
→ Agent retries request with the SPT
→ Server confirms via PaymentIntent API
→ Resource is delivered
𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭: The server never touches card data. Identity is encoded once into the token. The agent only carries permission — not the underlying credential. Settlement runs on Stripe's rails.
Best for: higher-value transactions, broad payment method coverage, existing Stripe merchants.
──────────────────────
𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝟐 — 𝐂𝐫𝐲𝐩𝐭𝐨 | 𝐎𝐧-𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬
──────────────────────
The on-chain path — stablecoins (e.g. USDC).
No card. No pre-issued token. The agent pays like a wallet.
The flow:
→ Agent requests a paid resource
→ Server creates a crypto PaymentIntent via Stripe
→ Stripe returns a deposit address
→ Server responds with HTTP 402 + payment instructions
→ Agent sends funds on-chain
→ Stripe detects and confirms payment
→ Resource is delivered
𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭: No pre-credentialing. The agent just needs a funded wallet. Settlement happens on-chain — Stripe acts as monitoring/reconciliation, not processor.
Best for: micro-transactions, agent-native payments, crypto workflows.
──────────────────────
𝐒𝐨 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞?
──────────────────────
It comes down to the credential model:
→ 𝐒𝐏𝐓: Human-originated, pre-issued, fiat-settled → delegated authority
→ 𝐂𝐫𝐲𝐩𝐭𝐨: Wallet-originated, runtime, on-chain → autonomous value
One is 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠.
The other is 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐫.
Same HTTP 402 handshake. Same Stripe surface. Two radically different trust models.
This is where agentic commerce gets real — identity vs value, permission vs ownership.
The rails are ready.
Who builds on top?
Payments, they never stops...
Source: Stripe, Tempo, Visa
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