San Francisco-based fintech giant Stripe announced its latest advance into cryptocurrency by partnering with Twitter.
Under the new pilot program, Stripe will allow a small group of creators to send and receive payments in USDC through its payment platform, Connect. Creators can manage their account details directly through the Stripe Express app.
Stripe’s Crypto Payment Push
The company stated in a blog post that Twitter will be the first company to integrate the new payment method into monetization products. The social media platform will allow creators to get their earnings on Ticketed Spaces and Super Follows immediately settled in cryptocurrency wallets.
“All crypto-related complexity and operations” will be handled by Stripe, so Twitter will not be in charge of storing and acquiring cryptocurrencies.
The fintech firm picks the Polygon network to process all the on-chain transactions for its strengths in “low gas fees, high speed, broad wallet compatibility, and integration with Ethereum.” Creators who receive funds through the program can thus bridge their assets to Ethereum and exchange them quickly for other cryptocurrencies.
Although the company only supports crypto payments in USDC at the moment, it assures users that more payment chains and cryptocurrencies will be added to the platform in the future. The company considers USDC’s price stability to be distinct from other cryptocurrencies that are primarily subject to high volatilities.
As manifested in the blog post, Stripe is doubling down on its exposure in the crypto space. The firm says they plan to support crypto payouts in more than 120 countries by the end of the year. However, compared to its main competitors like Block, PayPal, and Visa, which had collaborated with numerous crypto firms and exchanges even before the digital assets soared in popularity, Stripe is regarded as “late to the party.”
Stripe re-enters the crypto space
Last year, Stripe CEO John Collison already hinted that his company might reactivate cryptocurrency services soon after the giant ended Bitcoin services in 2018 due to volatility concerns. prices and transactional inefficiencies.
After raising $600 million last year in a fundraising round, Stripe is currently valued at $95 billion. As of 2021, the unicorn processed $640 billion in payments, a 60% increase from the year before.
