Stripe, Paystack’s parent company, said users in more than 70 countries used the stablecoin for online transactions in just 24 hours after it began allowing merchants on its platform to accept cryptocurrency payments again. Announced.
Just yesterday (October 9th), Stripe merchants in the US were authorized to receive Circle-issued stablecoin USDC through their online checkout page. The feature has already seen participation from more than 70 countries, according to an article posted on X by employee Jen late yesterday. “Fun fact:
“In the first 24 hours, customers from over 70 countries paid with stablecoins. @Stripe We just expanded access today, so U.S. merchants powered by Stripe can now check out their Stripe dashboard and turn on “Pay with Crypto!”, she said.
The stablecoin option helps the company offer merchants a way to accept payments from around the world. The company also includes support for local payment methods in different countries. Customers can pay merchants in USDC or USDP in Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon, while US-based merchants are paid in dollars.
Users can connect to browser extension wallets (e.g. Metamask, Coinbase Wallet, etc.) and pay directly with stablecoins. Starting with KYB, the merchant experience with Stripe Balance is the same whether a customer pays with a credit card or cryptocurrencies. Stripe also helps sellers send refunds directly to their customers’ wallets.
As part of the deal, the company will collect 1.5% of the transaction amount, which is lower than the 2.9% + $0.30 fee typically charged for card payments. Product Director Jay Shah revealed in a presentation in New York yesterday that Stripe supports over 100 payment options and plans to continue expanding the suite.
Recall that the payments company first enabled Bitcoin payments in 2014, but disabled the feature four years later, citing slow processing times as leading to failed transactions.
“As a general rule, we do what Internet businesses want, and they want to reach more customers at a lower cost,” product leader Jeff Weinstein wrote in an X post. I am. “Stablecoins, although still in their infancy, are showing signs of helping us achieve that.”
Stripe reintegrating cryptocurrencies is certainly an encouraging sign for the adoption of crypto payments. When the relaunch was announced in April, Stripe co-founder John Collison said that technological improvements in cryptocurrencies drove the decision.
Anonymous but reliable sources told Nico Pay that the fintech company just last week acquired Bridge, a crypto-to-fiat conversion API solution, for $900 million. For him, the rumored acquisition is the impetus for a fresh start.
Stripe Cryptocurrency Payments: Sentiment and Analysis
Stripe reintegrating cryptocurrencies is certainly an encouraging sign for the adoption of crypto payments. But some analysts believe there are fundamental problems with global acceptance.
For example, Sky Lab’s Niko Pei wrote in a blog post that Stripe’s payment solution, which relies on wallets and sometimes cumbersome requirements, is “convenient for crypto natives” but “intuitive” for everyone else. It’s not.”
Pei also characterized Stripe’s 1.5% fee, which is already 50% cheaper than current alternatives, as “predatory” given the extremely low cost of cryptocurrency payments.
Pei said that for crypto payments to compete with the credit card giants, it will have to compete with a vast ecosystem of cashback, travel points and loyalty rewards that encourage customers to use credit cards.
In a similar commentary, Jack Kuninek wrote that while the use of stablecoins will make it easier for U.S. merchants to sell to overseas customers, cards are certain to account for the majority of U.S. internet payments for the foreseeable future. are.
“Crypto payment solutions like Stripe (and Shopify) have a bit of a discoverability problem,” he said. There is no central repository of merchants to find stores.”
