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Shift4 (NYSE: FOUR), the commerce technology company that processes billions of transactions annually for hundreds of thousands of businesses worldwide, has partnered with crypto payment platform Lydian to bring Tether’s USDt (USDT) stablecoin into its existing “Pay with Crypto” checkout product, extending stablecoin payment acceptance across one of the largest merchant networks in the United States.
The collaboration expands Shift4’s Pay with Crypto solution, enabling over 200,000 merchants to accept USDT with settlement in local currency. Customers can pay from any major crypto wallet in the same way they would use a credit card, while merchants receive funds directly in their local currency without ever holding or touching digital assets.
USD₮ everywhere. 🌍@lydianpay has partnered with @Shift4 to bring seamless USD₮ payment capabilities to its ecosystem of over 200,000 merchants.
By upgrading the "Pay with Crypto" experience, businesses can opt to capture a fast-growing base of stablecoin users with no new… pic.twitter.com/xCqL0ERu6j
— Tether (@tether) May 20, 2026
The deal is structured to remove the operational barriers that have historically kept mainstream businesses away from digital asset acceptance. The Lydian partnership adds Tether to the list of crypto payment options supported on the platform, with no new workflows or crypto expertise required from merchants.
The structure keeps the merchant side familiar: no direct handling of digital assets, no new crypto workflows, and no balance-sheet exposure to token volatility. The addition of USDT gives Shift4 another way to position crypto payments as payment infrastructure rather than a speculative add-on.
“We built our Pay with Crypto solution because it is becoming a mainstream payment method,” said Taylor Lauber, CEO of Shift4. “This seamless, secure way to accept Tether expands on our successful program without added complexity or risk. We’re giving merchants the tools to capture a fast-growing base of stablecoin paying customers.”
Lydian, backed by Tether and Cantor Fitzgerald, provides digital asset payment infrastructure that enables merchants to accept stablecoins and other digital assets at the point of sale. The platform offers same-day settlement in local currencies.
“Our mission is to bring digital assets, like USDT, into everyday commerce, allowing merchants to offer new ways to pay without introducing new risks or operational complexity,” said Carl Grimstad, CEO of Lydian.
The Tether backing gives Lydian a direct structural link to the issuer of the stablecoin it is routing, a detail that reduces counterparty friction in the settlement chain and signals Tether’s intent to embed USDT more deeply into consumer-facing commerce.
The partnership arrives as the metrics underpinning stablecoin adoption reach levels that are difficult for payments incumbents to ignore. The companies cited more than 600 million crypto users worldwide and said stablecoin transaction volumes have exceeded Visa settlement volumes.
In December 2025, Shift4 launched a stablecoin settlement platform, giving hundreds of thousands of its merchants globally the ability to receive settlement in stablecoins instead of waiting for traditional bank transfers, with merchants able to move money at any time and access funds faster than before. That earlier product covered USDC (USDC), USDT, EURC, and Dai (DAI) across networks, including Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, The Open Network, Base, and Stellar.
The Lydian deal builds on that infrastructure by adding USDT on the acceptance side, meaning Shift4’s merchant network now has access to stablecoin functionality at both ends of the transaction: intake from customers and outbound settlement to the business.
Shift4 reported Q1 2026 earnings per share of $1.60, a 64.95% beat against the analyst forecast of $0.97, with revenues of $549 million slightly ahead of the projected $547.08 million. The financial position gives the company room to invest in product expansion at a moment when payment processors are racing to embed stablecoin infrastructure before regulatory frameworks in the United States and Europe lock in competitive advantages for early movers.
Pay with Crypto remains live across thousands of merchants in the US, with the Lydian integration marking its most prominent stablecoin addition to date.
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