Naver Makes First Crypto Bet With Investment in US Stablecoin Payments Firm Rain

Rain’s payment rails

Rain operates infrastructure designed to let stablecoins be used for everyday card payments. The company is a principal member of Visa, which means it can issue cards and settle directly with Visa without relying on a bank intermediary.

In practice, when a card issued through Rain is used at a Visa merchant, the customer’s stablecoins are converted into local currency and the merchant receives settlement in that local currency. The model is aimed at making stablecoin spending work across existing card acceptance networks rather than requiring merchants to adopt separate crypto payment systems.

The company’s technology has already been used in other partnerships. Wyoming, for example, worked with Rain to launch a physical payment card tied to its stablecoin, FRNT.

Why Naver is investing

The investment is being viewed as an early step toward a broader stablecoin payments strategy, particularly if Naver Financial eventually merges with Dunamu. That proposed merger has been delayed, but if completed it could create a structure in which Naver’s payment network and crypto-related capabilities are more closely aligned.

Naver is said to be looking beyond remittances and toward crypto payments as a potential growth area. Stablecoin-based payments, settlement and remittances are seen as a way to reduce settlement costs, and that prospect could become more meaningful if combined with the scale of Naver Pay.

The overseas angle is especially important for Naver. More than 80% of Naver Pay’s transaction volume was domestic as of last year, underscoring the company’s need to expand internationally. Its current overseas push includes tie-ups with merchants such as Alipay+.

Global merchant reach

Rain’s Visa-linked setup could give Naver a ready-made route into global payments. According to the source report, stablecoin-based payments using Rain’s technology could be processed immediately at around 150 million Visa merchants in roughly 150 countries.

That does not mean Naver has already launched such a service. Rather, the investment appears to provide access to infrastructure that could support that kind of expansion if the company moves forward with a broader stablecoin payments initiative.

Merger review remains the key variable

A major uncertainty is the pending review of the merger between Naver Financial and Dunamu. Reviews are still under way at agencies including the Fair Trade Commission. The matter is also being considered by the Regulatory Reform Committee, which is assessing possible implications related to eligibility as the largest shareholder amid wider discussions over revisions to enforcement decrees.

Because of that unresolved process, any operational synergies from the Rain investment remain conditional. The source report said that if the merger does not go through, it could affect the overall investment strategy.

In that sense, Naver’s stake in Rain is both a concrete move into crypto infrastructure and a bet on a future corporate combination that has yet to be cleared. For now, the deal signals interest in stablecoin-based global payments, but the scope of what Naver can build around it still depends on the outcome of the delayed merger review.