Stripe says stablecoins payments made in more than 70 countries after relaunch

STRIPE said individuals from more than 70 countries have used stablecoins for online transactions during the first 24 hours after allowing merchants using its platform to accept crypto payments again.

Stripe merchants in the US were authorised as of Oct 9 to receive the Circle-issued stablecoin USDC through their online checkout pages. The payments firm was among the first to enable Bitcoin payments in 2014, but disabled the feature four years later, explaining that slow processing times were leading to failed transactions.

Legacy payments companies such as Visa have since entered the stablecoin market as interest in digital currencies has grown. Visa last week announced it’s launching a platform to help banks issue their own fiat-backed tokens, including stablecoins. Other financial technology companies, including Robinhood and Revolut, are considering launching stablecoins.

The stablecoin option helps Stripe offer merchants a way to accept payments from around the world while the firm adds support for local payment methods in different countries, Jay Shah, head of product at Stripe said on Wednesday (Oct 9). Stripe supports over 100 payment options and continues to expand its suite, he said.

“We, as a principle, do things that Internet businesses want; and they want to reach more customers at lower cost,” Jeff Weinstein, product lead, said. “Stablecoins, while still early, show some sign that they can help achieve that.”

When the re-launch was announced in April, Stripe co-founder John Collison, noted that technical improvements in crypto bolstered the decision. BLOOMBERG