Stripping down Stripe's crypto push

Stripe on Thursday announced that it is now supporting cryptocurrency businesses and has already onboarded well-known names, including FTX, Blockchain.com and Nifty Gateway.

Why it matters: For Stripe — known for powering payments in much of the startup ecosystem — the move into crypto plugs a noticeable hole in its customer base.

• For crypto lovers, the payments darling having their back is yet another signal that crypto is going mainstream.

Context: Stripe has long been bullish on crypto, but has struggled to find a business rationale for the asset class and has historically considered companies in the space risky.

• In 2018, Stripe ended support for payments made in bitcoin, saying the rising value of the cryptocurrency made it less useful for such transactions.
• Stripe previously barred many cryptocurrency and mining businesses from its services, saying the sector posed “elevated financial risk.”

That began changing late last year amid a frenzy of crypto deal-making.

• Stripe signaled it was getting back into crypto by making hires in October and adding Paradigm's Matt Huang to its board in November.

Be smart: This isn't Stripe full-on body-slamming into the crypto industry — at least not yet.

• The announcement centers on how exchanges, NFT companies and wallet providers can use Stripe’s existing products to buy crypto and NFTs using debit cards and ACH bank transfers; for fraud mitigation; and for handling compliance.
• "To date, the crypto industry has struggled with poor reliability and low authorization rates when it comes to accepting fiat payments," a Stripe spokesperson wrote in an email.

What we’re watching: Whether Stripe finds a way back into crypto-native payments.

• Crypto proponents say using the asset directly for payments is faster, cheaper, and has the potential to disrupt Stripe itself. But the technology has yet to replace existing rails.
• On Thursday, the Stripe page introducing its web3 push included a line about "easy-to-use integrations for stablecoin payouts."
• Industry watchers took that as a potential sign of a return to crypto payments using stablecoins.
• That reference disappeared on Friday, and Stripe declined to comment.

Zooming out: Yes, multiple payments players can coexist here, with companies often using several providers. But there's maybe just a touch of 🌶️spic🌶️📷 here, too.

• Competitor Checkout.com moved earlier and faster into the crypto-infrastructure space, with such clients as MoonPay, Coinbase and, yes, FTX.