Stripe bets on stablecoins to become "AWS for money" and integrates blockchain into all its payments

Stripe is taking the next big step in its development by implementing stablecoins and blockchain technologies at the core of its payment infrastructure. The head of crypto strategies at the company, Adrien Ducheateau, outlined the company's vision during the RWA Summit in Cannes, France. According to him, Stripe's goal is to become the "AWS for money" – a platform that routes and orchestrates global money flows through traditional and blockchain "rails" in a way similar to how cloud platforms manage computing resources.

Investment of $1.1 billion in crypto infrastructure

Stripe's strategy is based on a series of acquisitions and partnerships in recent years. In 2024, the company acquired Bridge – a platform for stablecoin infrastructure – in a deal worth $1.1 billion, finalized in early 2025. Shortly thereafter, Stripe also bought the crypto wallet provider Privy to expand its control over the end-user experience in the crypto environment.

Bridge already processes stablecoin payments for over $10 billion annually in more than 100 countries, allowing businesses to accept, transfer and settle payments in digital dollars through a single API. Thus, Stripe gets a ready "backbone" for stablecoin operations, which can be directly integrated into its existing products for merchants and fintech companies.

In a next step, Stripe is partnering with the crypto venture firm Paradigm for the development of Tempo – a Layer 1 blockchain, specifically oriented towards payments. The main network of Tempo launched on March 18 after about three and a half months of public testing. Large infrastructure partners are already lining up around it, including Mastercard, UBS, Klarna and Visa, who are experimenting with new forms of payments on a blockchain basis.

In parallel with the launch of the main network, Stripe and Tempo are introducing the Machine Payments Protocol – an open-source protocol that allows AI agents to send and receive payments in both fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies. The idea is that future digital assistants and autonomous services can pay for access to APIs, computing resources or other services themselves, without human intervention.

Stablecoins at the checkout and in business

Stripe is already implementing stablecoin functions in its products for merchants and platforms. Companies can accept stablecoins directly at checkout, including through integrations with systems like Shopify. Remote work platforms, such as Remote.com, allow their users to receive rewards in cryptocurrency – especially useful for freelancers and specialists in the global market.

Through Bridge, fintech companies such as Klarna and Slash can issue their own stablecoins and integrate them into their own services – from loyalty programs to international payments. Stripe, which annually processes nearly $2 trillion in payments and serves over five million businesses worldwide, sees stablecoins as a way to bypass slow and expensive cross-border transfer systems, such as SWIFT, where settlement can take days.

Ducheateau points to developing markets – such as Argentina – as an example of places where the unstable national currency and limited banking infrastructure make stablecoins a particularly sought-after means of storing value and daily payments.

From payments to access to capital and yield

Stripe's ambitions don't stop at processing payments. The company plans to offer products for yield and access to capital in markets where its presence has been limited so far. The goal is for users and businesses to be able to move seamlessly between traditional financial services and blockchain solutions – without worrying about which "rails" their transaction ultimately settles on.

"The technologies simply didn't allow this type of infrastructure before. Now we've finally reached the point where this is realistic," says Adrien Ducheateau. "We are extremely enthusiastic and are doubling our efforts."

If the plans are realized, Stripe could become one of the key players in a new hybrid financial ecosystem, in which the line between banks, fintech companies and blockchain protocols is gradually blurring – and money moves as flexibly as data in the cloud.