Apple Pay Leaps Into Crypto—Mesh Debuts Live Stablecoin Payments at Token2049

Silicon Valley meets Satoshi—Apple Pay just blinked green on crypto. Mesh dropped the mic at Token2049 with live stablecoin integration, turning 1.5 billion iOS wallets into potential DeFi gateways overnight.

No more ’waiting for adoption.’ The move slams mainstream payments into blockchain rails while Wall Street still debates ETF paperwork. Tap-to-pay just got a CBDC bypass.

Watch the banks suddenly discover ’innovation’ now that Apple’s eating their lunch.

Mesh Bridges Crypto and Stablecoins for Payments

Shoppers can use popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), or Solana (SOL), while merchants receive settlement in stablecoins such as USDC, USDT, or PYUSD—thanks to Mesh’s proprietary SmartFunding technology.

Azizi said the development tackles one of the biggest obstacles to mainstream crypto adoption: the disconnect between consumer flexibility and merchant stability.

“As soon as crypto payments are as seamless as fiat payments, nothing is left to stop the mass migration of global commerce onto blockchain rails,” Azizi said. “Mesh is solving the UX and convenience pieces.”

The integration makes use of Apple Pay’s NFC capabilities, enabling crypto payments in physical stores with the same simplicity as traditional card payments.

Customers can check out using Apple Pay, verify with Face ID, and complete their purchase in seconds—whether online or in-store.

The milestone follows Mesh’s recent $82 million Series B funding round, led by Paradigm and backed by major players including Consensys and Yolo Investments.

Mesh already boasts over 300 integrations, including Coinbase, Binance, MetaMask, and Phantom, reinforcing its position as a key infrastructure provider in the crypto payments space.

Payments Companies Push into Crypto

Mesh’s recent partnership with Apple Pay comes as payments companies continue to expand into digital assets.

Last week, global payments giant Stripe said it is developing a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin aimed at companies operating outside the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe.

The announcement came after Stripe’s regulatory approval to acquire Bridge, a stablecoin payments network designed to rival traditional banking systems and SWIFT-based transfers.

Last month, Jack Dorsey, former Twitter CEO and outspoken Bitcoin advocate, publicly urged Signal Messenger to integrate Bitcoin for peer-to-peer (P2P) payments.

Dorsey’s call was echoed by David Marcus, former president of PayPal and current CEO of Lightspark, who stated that “all non-transactional apps should connect to Bitcoin.”

The comments reflect a growing sentiment among Bitcoin advocates to reposition BTC not just as a store of value, but as a practical payment tool.

More recently, Singapore-based payments company Triple-A announced plans to integrate PayPal’s stablecoin into its list of supported tokens for customer payments.

Even companies like PayPal have entered the space, launching their own stablecoins and offering yield incentives to holders.