Payment processing behemoth Stripe has renewed its crypto payments, starting with stablecoin USDC. After a long hiatus, Stripe will extend its crypto support on the Solana, Ethereum, and Polygon blockchains. The company dropped support for Bitcoin payments in 2018 due to high volatility. Unlike before, the payment startup will now directly integrate crypto payments instead of offering crypto payouts.
This is huge. Right now, more than a third of all global payments are done via Stripe. Google, Amazon, Lyft, Apple, Walmart, and Target, all use Stripe. And now crypto (specifically USDC on Ethereum, Solana, and Polygoin) will be a native payment option in the flows of all those millions of companies. This payment giant, along with PayPal, which controls most of the global payments, has now gone all in on crypto, recognizing it’s just better financial infrastructure.
According to the announcement, transactions will settle instantly on-chain and convert to fiat automatically. The company’s decision to reintroduce crypto after dropping it in 2018 has been praised by crypto supporters, who believe it is the natural progression for all payment companies. The allure of crypto will draw them back.
Stripe in 2023: $1 Trillion Volume & Massive Website Engagement
Currently, Stripe boasts over 2.84 million active websites utilizing its services, with over 100 companies individually processing more than $1 billion through the platform. In 2023, the firm exceeded $1 trillion in total payment volume, marking a 25% increase from the previous year.
In 2023, the firm announced crypto payouts with USDC, over the Polygon network, enabling a select group of creators on Twitter to receive crypto payments via the Stripe Connect platform. With the addition of crypto payouts, the social media platform announced options for creators to have their earnings paid out to a cryptocurrency wallet. Stripe announced it would manage all complexities and operations related to cryptocurrency at that time.
The move reflected the firm’s renewed interest in crypto, as the fintech giant began recruiting crypto talent in 2022 and raised $600 million in a fundraising round at a $95 billion valuation. The firm processed $640 billion in payments in 2021, a 60% increase from a year earlier.
