“It’s happening now,” Stripe’s Chief Executive, Patrick Collison, says as he reveals the fintech company is working on a stablecoin after a decade of waiting. The yet-to-be-released product will be powered by Bridge, the stablecoin orchestration platform it acquired earlier this year for $1.1 billion. And while details about the stablecoin haven’t been revealed, Stripe acknowledges that it’s starting to test it with companies outside the U.S., the European Union, and the United Kingdom.
Collison has described stablecoins as “a new branch of the money tree.” It’s a digital form of money that’s typically associated with something stable like the U.S. dollar. Regulating the technology remains tricky as no single framework exists. Congress has yet to pass legislation, though there is bipartisan support for regulation and oversight.
Stripe has long been active in the cryptocurrency and Web3 space. Beyond its acquisition of Bridge, the company has expanded its support for stablecoins by integrating USDC payments, enabling stablecoin payouts through Stripe Express, and offering a way to purchase stablecoins with fiat currency.
By developing its own stablecoin, Stripe could likely incorporate features specifically tailored to its ecosystem and further its mission to modernize commerce for the internet age. This might include deeper integrations with its existing fintech services, such as Stripe Connect and Stripe Billing, and other capabilities developers might not find with generic stablecoins. The company has the potential to grow into a comprehensive, end-to-end financial platform, offering a range of services from payment processing and company formation to currency exchange and facilitation. It’s a financial universe powered by the Stripe stablecoin.
Stripe has a massive network globally. It operates in 46 countries and territories worldwide and serves as the financial backend for nearly 1.4 million websites. Should it launch a stablecoin, it could create an opportunity for businesses struggling to access the dollar to find a new avenue for financing their operations and kickstarting their sales.
And combined with Stripe’s investment in artificial intelligence, it might generate a plethora of data that can be used to transform how businesses scale in this increasingly digital world.
Featured Image: Stripe logo on the wall of the company's San Francisco office, taken on Oct. 17, 2016. Photo credit: Ken Yeung
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