David Marcus, the former CEO of PayPal and the executive wholed Meta’s shelved Libra digital currency project, is making a new push torebuild banking on stablecoin rails. He now runs Lightspark, which has unveiled an API-basedproduct that gives platforms and AI agents access to dollar accounts, paymentsand cards on top of Bitcoin and stablecoin infrastructure.The latest offering launch pushes Banking-as-a-Service intothe stablecoin era, giving platforms and AI agents access to dollar accounts,payments and cards over Bitcoin-based rails instead of traditional bank stacks.The move marks a new phase in Marcus’s long-runningeffort to make money move like internet data, and it comes as regulators andbusinesses start to treat stablecoins and agent-driven interfaces as mainstreaminfrastructure.Onchain BaaS for Platforms and AgentsAccording to a Tuesday post, Marcus explained that theproduct lets companies offer branded dollar accounts, stablecoin balances,yield, payments and cards, with Bitcoin and stablecoins handling settlement inthe background rather than sponsor-bank sub-ledgers.In practical terms, Lightspark’s Grid Global Accountscompete most directly with emerging stablecoin-native banking stacks that letplatforms embed accounts, payments and yield behind an API. Offerings aroundStripe’s Bridge, Agora and Bastion, for example, focus on either white-labelstablecoin issuance, enterprise stablecoin infrastructure, or stablecoinpayments that settle into fiat balances.Continue reading: Dollar-Pegged Stablecoins Surge to $313B in Risk-Off Pivot amid US–Iran ConflictLightspark built the accounts on top of its Grid network andSpark, a Bitcoin Layer 2 that supports stablecoin issuance and low-costtransactions while remaining compatible with Lightning. The firm alreadyconnects to real-time and domestic payment systems in over 65 countries andworks with partners such as Cross River Bank to support 24/7 fiat settlementvia RTP, FedNow and multi-rail infrastructure.“Marcus has THE most fascinating back story: Former CEO ofPayPal, has moved money traditionally and is behind Libra at Meta a global bankaccount and "stablecoin" that regulators pushed back on,” SimonTaylor, the Founder of FintechBrainfood observed. “Now this is a global stablecoin bank account distributedthrough an API, post-GENIUS Act, sold to businesses and machines.”Marcus positions the launch as an alternative to classicBaaS architectures built on middleware, card processors and FBO accounts atsponsor banks. He argues that in the legacy model, platforms build userrelationships but lose fees and data to intermediaries each time money moves,while under the new model they keep yield, interchange and FX margin alongsidetransactional intelligence. Regulatory Clarity and AI Agents Shape the TimingLightspark’s announcement leans on a changed regulatory andtechnology backdrop compared with Marcus’s earlier Libra attempt at Meta. Sincethen, the US GENIUS Act has created a federal framework for paymentstablecoins, and MiCA has taken effect in the EU, giving enterprises clearerrules on issuance, reserves and supervision.Meta’s Libra project, which Marcus led before it rebrandedto Diem, never made it to full launch after intense pushback from regulatorsand policymakers around the world. Facebook announced Libra in 2019 as a globalstablecoin backed by a basket of currencies and governed by the LibraAssociation, but the plan quickly drew scrutiny from US and Europeanauthorities over monetary sovereignty, financial stability and data concerns,prompting high-profile backers such as Visa, Mastercard and PayPal to walk away.Under pressure, the initiative pivoted to a narrower modelof single-currency stablecoins and rebranded as Diem, yet it still failed tosecure regulatory comfort; by early 2022 the Diem Association agreed to sellits intellectual property and other assets to Silvergate Capital for about 182million dollars, effectively winding down the project and forcing Meta to shutits linked Novi wallet pilot later that year.This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.