Stripe Accepts Crypto Again After Six Years Break, Solana Spotlighted

Payment giant Stripe is gradually dipping its toe back in the cryptocurrency industry. On Thursday the company announced that it will soon allow customers to accept crypto payment using the USDC stablecoin. Users can receive and transfer assets using native USDC on Solana, Ethereum, and Polygon.

The latest development comes more than six years after the company stopped allowing crypto payments. Back in 2018, Stripe turned off the option for customers to accept payment via Bitcoin, given the volatility associated with the cryptocurrency. However, Stripe appears to believe that the crypto space has matured, especially with the rising popularity of stablecoins.

Commenting on the newest addition to Stripe’s payment options, President John Collison noted that transaction settlement no longer needs to rival Christopher Nolan films for length. Instead, Stripe will aim to offer a better experience, including cheaper costs, by bringing back stablecoins on its platform.

Solana Grabs The Spotlight

Although Stripe has selected three blockchains for the new feature, it may be noteworthy that a live demo announcing the feature used the Solana network. The reason may not be far-fetched. Compared with other competitors, such as Ethereum and Polygon, Solana offers a relatively cheaper and efficient user experience.

uhhhh chat

this is huge

the founder of Stripe just used Solana during a live demo to announce they're now supporting crypto payments

🤯🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/rsb1dWbq7j

— mert | helius.dev (@0xMert_) April 25, 2024

Additionally, while the blockchain has had its fair share of congestion issues in recent months, that seems to have been resolved with a recent upgrade to the Solana mainnet.

Meanwhile, Stripe’s decision to include Solana in its crypto payments product rollout means the blockchain is now currently used by a host of high profile payment firms. That lineup also includes Visa, Mastercard, and Shopify.

Stripe alone handled more than $1 trillion worth of customer payments in the past year. The firm anticipates that the addition of stablecoin payments will bump up that value as USD-denominated stablecoins become increasingly adopted globally.