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Payment giant Stripe returns to the cryptocurrency space after a six-year absence. The tech firm will allow merchants to accept USDC stablecoin.
Stripe announced the decision at the Global Internet Economy conference in San Francisco. According to the tech company, USDC stablecoin transactions will be processed through Ethereum, Solana, and the Polygon blockchain networks and immediately converted into fiat.
Streaming live at 9:30 AM PT: @collision talks about the future of payments. https://t.co/eFMLf0oo1h
— Stripe (@stripe) April 25, 2024
USDC is the second-largest stablecoin in the crypto market after Tether’s USDT and ranks as the sixth-largest asset by market capitalization. Stripe’s adoption aims to tap into the growing popularity of stablecoins due to their stability and liquidity in the digital asset market.
Stripe co-founder John Collison disclosed that the new crypto payment support for USDC will begin in the summer and will be integrated into the platform’s checkout suite.
Crypto is back. @Stripe will start supporting global stablecoin payments this summer. Transactions instantly settle on-chain and automatically convert to fiat. Join the waitlist https://t.co/hws2OsU3Id and watch the demo (h/t @Solana) from Sessions. pic.twitter.com/zGKYW2FM6i
— John Collison (@collision) April 25, 2024
Merchants and applications can utilize Stripe USDC stablecoin support to offer customers and digital creators a new payment experience, regardless of their access to conventional banking services or credit cards.
Stripe had previously ventured into crypto payments using Bitcoin as a payment method. However, it pulled out in 2018 due to the volatile nature of cryptocurrency and rising costs on Bitcoin blockchain.
The company noted that due to block size limits, Bitcoin became better suited as an asset rather than a means of exchange, making crypto less useful for payment.
However, Stripe re-entered the crypto market in 2022 by partnering with X (formerly Twitter) to introduce a program enabling microblogging creators to receive USDC payments on Polygon. This was the payment giant’s first step back into crypto, which ultimately paved the way for its latest stablecoin support.
Following Stripe’s decision to support USDC payment on its platform, many crypto enthusiasts expect further crypto integration from the company and other financial services firms.
