Payments Giant Stripe Rolls Out Crypto Payments Pilot on Twitter

Payments processing firm Stripe is testing out a new pilot program to allow users to make payments using crypto assets on Twitter.

According to a new company blog post and accompanying tweet, Stripe is looking into broadening the reach of its global payments program by incorporating digital assets.

“While the ‘store of value’ aspects of cryptocurrencies typically receive the most attention, we view the prospect of ‘open-access global financial rails’ as being at least equally compelling. As a result, we’ve been exploring ways to use cryptocurrency-based platforms to unlock broader access.

Today, we’re introducing crypto payouts for Connect. With crypto payouts, a select group of creators on Twitter – our first partner – will be able to use cryptocurrency-based rails to receive their earnings from Twitter.”

Introducing crypto payouts: https://t.co/xJnpLmsBKn. pic.twitter.com/PJQ2oTaU7J

— Stripe (@stripe) April 22, 2022

The pilot program will initially only support stablecoin USD Coin ($USDC) and use layer-2 Ethereum (ETH) scaling solution Polygon (MATIC) to process the payments. Stripe notes that they eventually plan to support more virtual assets and processing networks.

“Stripe will initially support payouts in $USDC, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. This will enable many people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to hold dollars to do so.

Payouts will take place over the Polygon network, which we chose for its low fees, speed, integration with Ethereum, and broad wallet compatibility.

Once creators receive their earnings, they can hold their balance on Polygon, or choose to bridge to Ethereum and exchange it into another currency. We plan to add support for additional rails and payout currencies over time.”