Payment giant Stripe re-enters crypto Arena with USDC

After a six-year hiatus, the payment behemoth Stripe reenters the crypto arena, enabling merchants to embrace the USDC stablecoin. This move, unveiled at the Global Internet Economy conference in San Francisco, entails processing USDC transactions via Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon blockchain networks, with instant conversion to fiat currencies.

USDC, the second-largest stablecoin in the crypto realm following USDT, holds the sixth spot in market capitalization. Stripe's decision to embrace USDC aligns with the increasing appeal of stablecoins, prized for their stability and liquidity in the digital asset landscape.

John Collison, co-founder of Stripe, revealed plans to introduce crypto payment support for USDC during the summer. This integration will be part of the platform's checkout suite.

Merchants and applications now have the option to leverage Stripe's USDC stablecoin support, providing customers and digital creators with a novel payment experience, irrespective of their access to traditional banking services or credit cards.

Previously, Stripe had dipped its toes into crypto payments using Bitcoin as a payment method. However, it exited the space in 2018 due to cryptocurrency's volatility and escalating costs on the Bitcoin blockchain. The company observed that, due to block size limits, Bitcoin had become more suitable as an asset rather than a medium of exchange, diminishing its utility for payments.

Nevertheless, Stripe made a comeback to the crypto market in 2022 by collaborating with X (formerly Twitter) to roll out a program allowing microblogging creators to receive USDC payments on Polygon. This marked the payment giant's initial reentry into crypto, setting the stage for its recent support for stablecoins.

With Stripe's move to embrace USDC payments on its platform, many crypto enthusiasts anticipate further crypto integration from the company and other financial services firms.