Smartpay, a fintech infrastructure company known for enabling stablecoin-based payments since 2019, has been acquired by Rezolve AI, a publicly listed commerce platform, in a deal that underscores the accelerating convergence between digital assets and AI-driven e-commerce.
The acquisition was announced on Tuesday, though no financial terms were disclosed. Rezolve said the move will bolster its digital asset payment initiative in partnership with Tether, the issuer of the USDt (USDT) stablecoin.
According to the announcement, Smartpay processed more than 19 million commercial transactions over the 12 months ending Sept. 30, representing over $1 billion in USDt value.
Operating across Latin America and central Africa, Smartpay enables consumers to make payments using stablecoins such as USDt, while merchants typically receive settlement in local fiat currency. The company’s model combines crypto payment functionality with instant fiat conversion to mitigate volatility and simplify adoption.
Smartpay operates in a broader market of crypto merchant payment services, including leading players such as BitPay, the oldest crypto payment processor, and Coinbase Commerce.
The acquisition supports Rezolve’s plan to build a blockchain-based payments network that lets consumers pay with digital assets while maintaining instant fiat transactions for merchants.
“Smartpay gives Rezolve a proven, transaction-tested foundation to scale our digital asset payment initiative globally,” Rezolve AI CEO Daniel M. Wagner said in an announcement.
Related: Ohio approves vendor to process crypto payments for state services
Payments, AI spur crypto adoption
The use of cryptocurrencies for payments has long been viewed as both a key use case and a major bottleneck in blockchain adoption. Now, a new study by Reown and YouGov suggests that payments and AI are becoming the two primary drivers of crypto’s next phase of growth.
Reown CEO Jess Hougrave said the findings reflect a growing recognition that payments and AI both solve how to make crypto useful and trusted, by embedding digital assets into everyday transactions and intelligent systems.
This intersection is gaining traction across the industry. Google’s Agent Payments Protocol, announced in partnership with Coinbase, enables AI agents to autonomously initiate crypto transactions, primarily using stablecoins. The collaboration highlights the increasing synergy between AI technologies and blockchain-based payment infrastructure.
Industry leaders have echoed this sentiment. As Cointelegraph reported, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz predicted that AI agents will become the largest future users of stablecoins, given their need for fast, programmable and borderless digital payments.
Related: Joe Lubin confirms SWIFT is using Linea to build its new payments system
