Stripe to Debut Support for Global Stablecoin Payments This Summer

• Stripe will support global stablecoin transactions this summer.
• The firm has already posted a waitlist for this upcoming feature.
• Stripe enabled Bitcoin payments in 2018 but ended the service.

Stripe CEO Patrick Collison announced that the company will begin supporting global stablecoin payments this summer. Transactions will instantly settle on-chain and automatically convert to fiat currency. The CEO has already posted a waitlist for this feature.

Stripe, a payment service provider, enabled Bitcoin payments 10 years ago but ceased this service in 2018. Collison described the Bitcoin payment experience at that time as “pretty terrible,” and Stripe cited a lack of demand as a reason for discontinuing the service.

The upcoming offering will allow merchants to accept stablecoins for online transactions using the Stripe platform. Collison highlighted the technical improvements in the crypto space, highlighting increased transaction speeds, reduced fees, and the growing stability of stablecoins.

During Stripe’s annual conference, Collison demonstrated the new feature by showcasing a payment using USDC (USD Coin), a popular stablecoin, while revealing that the “transactions instantly settle on-chain and automatically convert to fiat.”

The company’s blog post from January 23, 2018, announcing the decision to discontinue Bitcoin support, was updated to reflect the new announcement: 

“This summer, businesses using Stripe to accept payments online can add the option for their customers to pay with stablecoins.”

Although Stripe had been an early supporter of Bitcoin payments, the firm cited technical challenges, including lengthy transaction confirmation times, high failure rates, and exorbitant transaction fees, as reasons for halting the service. The issues led to a decrease in demand from both Stripe clients and retail customers.