Walmart's Stablecoin Ambitions Shake Up Payment Stocks

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is one of the best dividend stocks for a bear market.

The company is reportedly looking into the idea of creating or using its own stablecoins. These digital tokens allow the transfer of US dollar value through cryptocurrency networks rather than traditional banking systems.

For retailers, stablecoins are attractive because they could significantly reduce payment processing costs by leveraging the speed and efficiency of blockchain technology, though that could also divert a large volume of transactions away from major card networks.

Despite this, analysts remain confident in the resilience of card companies. They argue that stablecoins are unlikely to disrupt consumer-to-business payments anytime soon, mainly due to regulatory and technical hurdles. In response to the news, Wells Fargo analyst Donald Fandetti stated that they remain bullish on Visa and Mastercard, citing multiple barriers to stablecoins becoming a viable alternative to traditional card payments.

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) has a track record of exploring innovative financial technologies, and according to analyst Harshita Rawat, it’s not unusual for major retailers to look into alternative payment options. She made the following comment:

“Traction will likely take years and may be limited to certain cross-border use-cases or some emerging countries (e.g., ones which have volatile underlying currencies). In retail consumer-to-business payments, stablecoins are a solution looking for a problem (for the foreseeable future) in most developed markets … There are, however, other use-cases with stronger product market fit e.g., in less liquid remittances corridors, cross-border business-to-business and treasury/cash management.”

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is a solid dividend stock with 52 consecutive years of dividend growth under its belt. The company offers a quarterly dividend of $0.235 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.98%, as of June 17.

While we acknowledge the potential of WMT as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

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