Stripe has teamed up with Twitter to continue its mission of accelerating virtual currency adoption, as the payment firm rolls out a program to enable users of the platform to hold USD Coin. This announcement means users can hold and cash out in Circle’s USD Coin.
The decision is in line with the firm’s expansion mission to onboard businesses and people through the Connect service. Businesses will connect with Stripe through its APIs to transact and initiate payments in various fiat currencies using different payment methods.
Stripe’s pilot program shows its aims to include virtual currencies in the service. The decision came after the firm analyzed the challenges in expanding coverage geographically.
Cross-border Access Tops Priority
Stripe maintains that although using virtual currency as a store of value is a more important aspect of these nascent assets, cross-border payments are an equally vital component. For that reason, it began to explore methods to use virtual currency platforms to broaden access.
The exploration birthed the program. Stripe will select some creators at random to test the payout program on Twitter. The users will be given the chance to get paid in USDC.
More Details About the New Feature
A statement from Stripe reveals that payouts will be performed on a fast and efficient Polygon chain. However, the program will only test USDC for the time being, pending the success of the payout. Stripe said it could add more networks to Polygon in the near future.
Chosen users or creators will be permitted to receive their payouts in the stablecoin. Since there’s no direct method of withdrawing it, users can bridge them to Ethereum or store them on Polygon. Aside from the selected users, monetization services, such as Ticketed Spaces, could participate in the pilot. This service enables users’ bill followers to attend an event. Another service expected to join in is Super Follows.
Stripe’s program comes barely a month after it announced the launch of crypto services to businesses and Web3 companies. They will use Stripe features for crypto and NFT transactions (pay-ins and payouts). The financial firm collaborated with FTX, Nifty Gateway, and Blockchain.com to execute the services. These services will only be available in the United States, the U.K., and E.U.
The firm also announced the unveiling of its NFT collection “Cube Thingies,” with sales realized going to Watsi healthcare. Stripe has continued to embrace cryptocurrency after it disclosed it would hire a team for Web3 services. The firm once stopped offering bitcoin services in 2018 but returned to the fold last year.