Cryptocurrency payments historically faced a significant “cold start” challenge — limited crypto ownership among mainstream users made merchants hesitant to invest in accepting it. Stripe changed that calculation.
In April 2024, Stripe announced its re-entry into crypto payments, with President John Collison declaring “crypto is back” at Stripe Sessions. What started as a stablecoin payments relaunch has since grown into one of the most ambitious infrastructure bets in the payments industry: a $1.1 billion acquisition of stablecoin platform Bridge, a dedicated Layer-1 blockchain called Tempo built with Paradigm, and stablecoin financial accounts now live in 101 countries.
In this article, we’ll walk through what Stripe has actually built since that 2024 announcement — where the technology stands in 2026, what it means for merchants, and how to think about integrating it into your business.
Stripe is the top payment processing platform
Stripe remains one of the world’s leading payment platforms, valued at roughly $159 billion as of February 2026 — a scale that gives its crypto push outsized influence on how the rest of the payments industry approaches stablecoins.
Since its 2023 milestone of surpassing $1 trillion in total payment volume, Stripe has continued investing heavily in its core checkout infrastructure — streamlined interfaces, broader payment method support, and fraud-decline reduction. But its most consequential moves over the past two years have been in crypto infrastructure specifically: acquiring stablecoin platform Bridge for $1.1 billion in February 2025, and co-launching the Tempo blockchain with crypto investment firm Paradigm in September 2025.
Stripe’s return to crypto payments isn’t a side experiment — it’s now a core part of the company’s infrastructure strategy, reflecting the broader shift toward stablecoins as mainstream payment rails following the GENIUS Act, the first US federal law governing payment stablecoins, signed in July 2025.
Stripe’s reentry into cryptocurrency payments
Stripe’s April 2024 announcement was just the starting point. Here’s what actually happened over the following two years:
2024 relaunch: Stablecoin payments went live in October 2024, letting merchants accept USDC from customers’ self-custody wallets across Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon, with Stripe handling on-chain settlement, compliance, and conversion to fiat. Notably, Stripe deliberately excluded Bitcoin — a lesson from its original 2014–2018 crypto product, which it shut down over Bitcoin’s volatility and slow settlement times.
The Bridge acquisition (February 2025): Stripe acquired stablecoin infrastructure company Bridge for $1.1 billion — its largest acquisition ever. Bridge’s technology powers USDC issuance, treasury sweeps, and fiat on/off-ramps across roughly 40 currencies, turning Stripe’s original US-merchant-first crypto product into a genuinely global stablecoin payments platform.
Stablecoin Financial Accounts (May 2025): Businesses in 101 countries gained the ability to hold balances in stablecoins and move money over both crypto and traditional banking rails from a single dashboard — effectively a Stripe Treasury account settled on-chain.
Tempo, Stripe’s own blockchain (September 2025–March 2026): Rather than only relying on existing chains like Ethereum and Solana, Stripe co-developed Tempo with crypto investment firm Paradigm — a payments-purpose-built Layer-1 blockchain targeting 100,000+ transactions per second with sub-second finality. Design partners included Visa, Deutsche Bank, Shopify, Revolut, Anthropic, and OpenAI. Tempo formally launched in March 2026, and companies like DoorDash have begun testing stablecoin payouts to workers on it.
Today, Stripe accepts stablecoin payments from customers in 70+ countries, settling across eight blockchain networks, with merchants paid out in either USD or stablecoin — at a flat 1.5% fee, notably lower than the roughly 2.9% typical of card payments.
Focus on stablecoin integration
Addressing attendees at the Stripe Sessions 2024 event on April 25th, John Collison highlighted Stripe’s decision to disable Bitcoin due to its volatility during its previous offering. However, Collison acknowledged that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have since evolved, now demonstrating enhanced technological capabilities that make them viable as stores of value.
As part of its renewed strategy to transform the cryptocurrency industry, Stripe will focus on integrating stablecoins. Stablecoins are a category of cryptocurrencies designed to minimize price volatility by pegging their value to a stable asset, such as fiat currencies like the US dollar. By focusing on these coins, Stripe aims to provide merchants and customers with a more predictable and reliable means of transacting in digital currencies.
Support for USDC implementation
Stripe has specifically chosen to support USDC (USD Coin) as it reinstates the Stripe crypto payouts feature. USDC is a well-known stablecoin that maintains a 1:1 peg with the US dollar, ensuring that its value remains stable and consistent. Now, Stripe taking crypto payments starting USDC. This underscores the commitment of this platform to offering a secure and stable cryptocurrency payment option that aligns with traditional financial expectations.
This platform will facilitate USDC transactions across Stripe Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon networks. What does this mean? For example, Stripe Ethereum integration allows businesses to accept payments seamlessly using the Ethereum network. Future expansion is anticipated to encompass other blockchain platforms supported by the native stablecoin, thereby improving accessibility and user experience.
How does Stripe improve crypto transactions?
«Stripe’s crypto stack has grown well beyond simple stablecoin acceptance. Here’s what’s actually available to businesses in 2026:
Stablecoin payment acceptance
Merchants can accept stablecoin payments directly through the standard Stripe Payments API — the same Checkout, Payment Links, and Invoicing flows used for card payments. Customers pay from a self-custody wallet, Stripe handles on-chain confirmation, compliance, and FX conversion, and merchants receive either fiat or stablecoin. Stripe’s Link feature also supports one-click repeat crypto payments for returning customers.
Stablecoin Financial Accounts and Treasury
Businesses in 101 countries can hold balances in stablecoins (USDC, USDB) and move funds via ACH, wire, SEPA, or on-chain rails from a single account — with automatic recurring transfers from their Stripe balance. This is effectively a Treasury account settled on-chain rather than through traditional banking.
Open Issuance: launch your own stablecoin
Introduced in September 2025, Open Issuance lets any business launch a custom stablecoin with a few lines of code, with reserves managed by institutional custodians like BlackRock, Fidelity, and Superstate. Early adopters include Phantom and Hyperliquid.
Tempo: purpose-built settlement infrastructure
For businesses processing high volumes of stablecoin transactions, Tempo (Stripe’s Layer-1 blockchain, co-developed with Paradigm) offers predictable low fees, sub-second finality, and the ability to pay gas fees in any stablecoin — removing one of the most common friction points in blockchain-based payments.
Identity and compliance
Stripe Identity verifies ID documents from over 100 countries using machine learning, supporting KYC requirements for crypto exchanges, wallets, and NFT marketplaces alike. Stripe Financial Connections, which supports over 97% of US bank accounts, simplifies linking bank accounts for fiat payouts and ACH transfers.
Benefits of using Stripe for crypto businesses
Stablecoin acceptance at lower cost: A flat 1.5% fee on stablecoin payments versus roughly 2.9% for card payments — a meaningful margin improvement for businesses processing high transaction volumes.
Global reach: Stablecoin acceptance across 70+ countries and eight blockchain networks, with fiat payout support across 45+ countries through Connect.
Built-in compliance: Stripe Identity and KYC tooling handle onboarding and fraud prevention, which matters more than ever given the GENIUS Act’s reserve and compliance requirements for stablecoin issuers.
Infrastructure to launch your own stablecoin: With Open Issuance, businesses no longer need Stripe merely as a payment processor — they can issue a branded stablecoin directly, with institutional-grade reserve management already built in.
Purpose-built settlement via Tempo: For high-volume, latency-sensitive use cases (payroll, remittances, marketplace payouts), Tempo offers sub-second finality at a scale general-purpose blockchains weren’t originally designed for.
How a typical stablecoin payment works today
A customer checks out and selects a stablecoin as their payment method, alongside cards and other options, within the standard Stripe Checkout flow.
They confirm the payment from their self-custody wallet (Coinbase Wallet, MetaMask, Phantom, and others are supported) or send USDC directly to a Stripe-generated address.
Stripe confirms the on-chain transaction, applies FX conversion if needed, and settles funds to the merchant — in seconds, not the minutes-to-hours typical of unassisted on-chain settlement.
The merchant receives payout in USD or in stablecoin, depending on their preference, visible on the same Stripe Dashboard used for all other payment methods.
Peiko is your trusted partner for creating software and blockchain solutions
By the end of the article, you already have an idea of the connection between Stripe and cryptocurrencies and how this platform can significantly improve crypto transactions. At Peiko, we offer you comprehensive software and blockchain development services and will create a reliable and secure solution that fits your business needs. We will also help you set up a reliable payment system for your project.
With years of experience in blockchain development, we have built a vast portfolio and received tens of positive reviews from customers.
By the way, the Clutch review platform positioned us as the number one blockchain development team based on ratings and reviews. Despite our main focus on blockchain, we serve various industries, including retail, real estate, healthcare, insurance, fintech app development, and others.
One of our top projects in the fintech sector is TopUp Balance. It is an advanced online service tailored for global mobile operator top-ups and digital product purchases using cryptocurrency or fiat currencies.
This service offers support for 19 payment methods and operates in 11 languages, facilitating ease of access for users globally. Our key accomplishments include integrating fiat and crypto wallets, implementing multilingual support, and establishing a unified admin panel for efficient management. This platform is designed to simplify connectivity and service access for travelers, ensuring seamless operations across more than 196 countries worldwide.
Conclusion
Two years after “crypto is back,” Stripe has turned a stablecoin relaunch into a full infrastructure play — a $1.1 billion acquisition, its own Layer-1 blockchain, and financial accounts live in over 100 countries. For businesses evaluating whether to accept stablecoins, the calculus has shifted from “is this legitimate yet” to “how do we integrate this well” — helped along by the GENIUS Act’s regulatory clarity and lower fees than card payments.
At Peiko, we specialize in building reliable blockchain solutions with integrated payment systems — including Stripe’s crypto and stablecoin infrastructure. With extensive experience in blockchain development across industries, we can help you evaluate whether stablecoin acceptance makes sense for your business and build a secure, compliant integration, drawing on projects like Dipper and TopUp Balance. Whether you’re looking to accept stablecoin payments, issue your own token via Open Issuance, or build on Tempo, we’re here to help. Contact us today!
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