OpenAI collaboration supports this! How Sweden’s Klarna became a “BNPL” payment giant

In recent years, when shopping online, people often see the "Buy Now, Pay Later" payment option, and one of the key players behind this is the Swedish fintech company Klarna. Since its establishment in 2005, it has partnered with over 790,000 merchants and combined AI technology with digital banking, achieving an impressive revenue of $701 million in Q1 2025.

Serving 100 Million Users Globally with "Buy Now, Pay Later"

Klarna was founded in 2005, initially launching the "Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)" service in Sweden. This consumption method allows users to defer payment or choose installments when shopping online, typically without interest.

With this model, Klarna successfully entered the European and American markets, expanding its services to 26 countries with over 100 million active users and 720,000 partner merchants. In Q1 2025, its revenue reached $701 million, growing approximately 15% compared to the same period last year, indicating continued expansion.

Although Klarna used AI to reduce customer service costs, it recently rehired human customer service representatives due to service quality considerations, showing that efficiency and customer experience still need to be balanced.

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The U.S. investment platform Republic announced the launch of tokenized private equity, with the first target being Musk's space technology company SpaceX, and plans to expand to tech giants like OpenAI and Anthropic. By issuing digital tokens representing shares through blockchain, Republic is opening investment opportunities previously limited to institutions and high-net-worth individuals to retail investors.

Republic Issues SpaceX "Mirror Token", Invest in Unlisted Companies for $50

Republic, a New York-based investment startup, recently announced the issuance of SpaceX's indirect equity through "Mirror Tokens". Although these tokens are unrelated to the original company and do not represent legal shareholding, holders can enjoy potential economic benefits linked to the company's performance.

Unlike traditional private placements with thresholds of tens of thousands of dollars, Republic allows users to invest at a low cost of $50 to $5,000 through Apple Pay or stablecoins, making it more accessible to the general public:

This tokenized asset will reflect market expectations of SpaceX's price and provide a basis for the company's performance in potential future IPOs, mergers, or other events.

Republic stated: "The goal of this plan is to break down the barriers that previously prevented retail investors from participating in star companies' private placements, allowing more people to share the growth dividends of unlisted enterprises."

Republic CEO: OpenAI and Anthropic Will Be Launched Successively

Tokenized products, as digital tokens issued on the blockchain corresponding to physical assets, have application scenarios ranging from stocks and real estate to private equity. They not only increase liquidity but also make transaction records transparent and traceable, shorten settlement times, and possess programmable design advantages.

Republic Co-CEO Andrew Durgee stated:

In the past, retail investors could not hold private placement shares of companies like SpaceX. Now, through blockchain and tokenization mechanisms, these investment thresholds are being broken down.

He revealed that Republic will issue more tokenized equity in the future, including highly anticipated unlisted companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, Stripe, X (formerly Twitter), and Waymo.

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Blurry Regulatory Innovation: Does It Require Company Authorization?

Despite attracting market attention, this innovation faces numerous regulatory and legal challenges. Specifically including:

1. Legality issues: Does the issuance of such tokens comply with securities laws? Does it require authorization from the company itself?
2. Information disclosure obligations: How can Republic ensure investors can obtain transparent information about company changes and financial reports?

Durgee emphasized that they are using a framework established on U.S. securities laws from the 1930s, thus providing legal flexibility:

We do not need the consent of the target company to issue its tokens, and in the future, some enterprises will certainly be extremely interested in issuing such tokens.

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Trump Administration Supports Crypto, Financial Giants Actively Follow

Benefiting from the open attitude of U.S. President Trump and regulatory agencies towards the crypto industry, Republic's move is not so surprising. This includes the SEC consecutively withdrawing lawsuits against multiple exchanges and brokerage platforms, emphasizing that memecoins are not securities, and establishing a dedicated task force to advance crypto asset regulation.

Meanwhile, traditional financial institutions are also entering the market: Coinbase is striving to tokenize stock trading, Kraken plans to provide year-round US stock token trading. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has even stated: "Tokenization of all financial assets is an important step for the future of capital markets."

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Now, Republic's tokenized equity products herald a revolution of capital market democratization. By leveraging the high efficiency and liquidity characteristics of blockchain, investment opportunities that were previously limited to a few are now being opened to a broader range of investors. However, this change will inevitably spark more regulatory discussions and market experiments.