Stablecoins Go Mainstream As Meta Rolls Out Creator Payouts In Philippines, Colombia

Facebook paid its creators nearly $3 billion in 2025 — a 35% jump from the year before. Now some of those Meta creators will get paid in crypto.

Meta: A Second Try At Digital Payments

Meta has begun rolling out USDC stablecoin payouts to select creators in the Philippines and Colombia, marking the company’s return to digital currency after a failed attempt years ago.

Creators who sign up can link a third-party crypto wallet to Facebook’s payout platform and receive funds directly on the Solana or Polygon blockchains.

The rollout is live now, though it remains limited to eligible creators in those two countries for the moment.

Polygon confirmed the launch on Wednesday, adding that expansion to more than 160 markets is expected soon.

“This is how creators’ lives are improved,” the blockchain network said, pointing to faster settlement times and access to dollar-denominated assets as key benefits for users outside the US.

USDC, the stablecoin issued by Circle, ranks as the second-largest stablecoin by market value.

Data from DeFiLlama puts its market cap at over $77 billion as of Thursday. Tether’s USDT still leads the market at a little over $189 billion.

One catch: Meta does not convert USDC to local currency. Creators who want cash will need to use an outside exchange on their own. The company also reserved the right to pay through alternate methods if technical problems arise.

Big Scale, Careful Rollout

The creator pool affected by this change is broad. Meta’s platforms — Facebook and Instagram — host influencers, educators, and entertainers who earn through content posted on the apps.

According to company data, that creator base collectively received close to $3 billion from Facebook alone last year.

Stablecoins have been gaining traction across the financial industry. Reports indicate that banks and financial institutions in Europe are actively picking infrastructure partners to support stablecoin adoption, a sign that corporate interest in the technology has moved well beyond cryptocurrency circles.

Meta’s history with stablecoins is complicated. The company first entered the space in 2019 under the name Libra, which was later rebranded as Diem.

The project ran into a wall of regulatory opposition from central banks and lawmakers who raised concerns about financial stability, privacy, and consumer protection.

In January 2022, the project acknowledged it could not move forward and sold its assets to Silvergate Capital Corporation.

This time, Meta is not building its own stablecoin. By using USDC — an already-regulated, widely accepted digital dollar — the company sidesteps much of the friction that doomed Diem.

Featured image from MetaAI, chart from TradingView