WalletConnect Pay Launches; Partners with Ingenico for Physical Crypto Payments
WalletConnect pivots to payments with a 2026 rollout and a major hardware partnership with Ingenico to bring stablecoins to 40 million terminals.
WalletConnect has officially announced the launch of WalletConnect Pay, a dedicated payment infrastructure designed to bridge the gap between on-chain wallets and real-world commerce. The rollout, scheduled for 2026, is headlined by a strategic partnership with payments giant Ingenico to enable stablecoin transactions on over 40 million Android payment terminals globally.
The Receipt: Hardware Meets Software
The core of the announcement is the integration with Ingenico, which allows merchants to accept crypto directly at physical points of sale (POS) without requiring new hardware. The system utilizes a new wallet_pay standard that handles the complexity of chain abstraction, enabling users to pay with stablecoins (like USDC or USDT) from any of the 700+ supported wallets while merchants receive fiat or stablecoins instantly.
“Stablecoins have become an important payment instrument for moving value quickly and efficiently. By working with Ingenico, we’re extending stablecoin payments into real-world retail environments.”. Jess Houlgrave, CEO of WalletConnect
By The Numbers
The pivot to payments leverages WalletConnect’s existing dominance as the connectivity standard for Web3:
- 55.5 Million active users currently leverage the protocol.
- $400 Billion in transaction volume was facilitated in 2025 alone.
- $27.6 Trillion in global stablecoin volume, a figure WalletConnect notes has surpassed Visa and Mastercard combined.
Despite the high-profile announcement, the protocol’s native token, WalletConnect Token (WCT), reacted mutedly, trading down 2% to $0.073 as the broader market digested the long lead time (2026) for full deployment.
Institutional Context
This move signals a shift in the crypto payments vertical from “crypto-linked cards” (which rely on Visa/Mastercard rails) to native on-chain settlement. By integrating directly into Ingenico’s terminal software, WalletConnect is attempting to remove the card network fee layer entirely for stablecoin transactions. The protocol already underpins crypto checkout experiences for platforms like Stripe and Coinbase Commerce, but the Ingenico deal marks its first major offensive into brick-and-mortar retail.
