Stripe, a global payments leader, is developing an innovative financial infrastructure, likened to 'AWS for money,' with blockchain technology at its core. Adrien Duchâteau, the company's head of crypto go-to-market, announced at the RWA Summit in Cannes, France, that Stripe is integrating stablecoins and blockchain into its core payment stack to modernize global money movement. The company is placing more of its stack on the blockchain, Duchâteau explained. This move builds upon Stripe's history with cryptocurrency, which began with the acceptance of bitcoin payments in 2014, followed by a temporary withdrawal in 2018 due to volatility, and then a return in 2021 with a dedicated crypto team.
The focus is on solving a fundamental issue: global payments are slow and expensive. Cross-border transfers still rely on outdated systems like SWIFT, which can take days to settle, affecting payout schedules for platforms. Stripe processes nearly $2 trillion in annual payments and serves over 5 million businesses globally, so even minor improvements in settlement times can have significant effects. By reducing the current T+3 network, where transactions take three days to settle, to real-time, the impact would be substantial.
To achieve this, Stripe has acquired stablecoin infrastructure firm Bridge for $1.1 billion and crypto wallet provider Privy. It has also collaborated with crypto investment firm Paradigm to develop Tempo, a payments-focused blockchain that launched last month with partners like Mastercard, UBS, Klarna, and Visa.
Stablecoin features are being rolled out, allowing merchants to accept stablecoins at checkout and platforms to offer payouts in crypto. Demand for these technologies is emerging in areas where traditional banking systems are inadequate, such as in emerging markets where users seek dollar exposure and where card payments fail. Stripe aims to abstract the difference between traditional and blockchain-based transactions over time. The company's goal is to become the 'AWS for money,' managing money movements across systems like cloud platforms manage computing resources globally, and to offer future products like yield or capital access in previously underserved markets.