Stripe is Open to Accepting Crypto Payments Again

Stripe exited the cryptocurrency market during the bear run of 2018, but the market has evolved since then.

The total cryptocurrency market cap has grown to nearly $3 trillion and an numerous financial institutions have entered the crypto space.

Stripe is Putting Together a Crypto Team

Payment platform Stripe said it is open to accepting cryptocurrency payments again. Co-founder John Collison revealed this at a CNBC-moderated panel at the Fintech Abu Dhabi festival earlier this week.

Collison said, “Crypto obviously means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. There have been a lot of developments of late with an eye to making cryptocurrencies better and, in particular, scalable and acceptable cost as a payment method.”

When asked if the payment company will start accepting crypto as a method of payment again, the co-founder said they are open to the possibility. Stripe ended support for Bitcoin payments on its platform three years ago.

At the time, Stripe cited Bitcoin’s highly volatile nature and a lack of efficiency in making everyday transactions as the reason why it ended its Bitcoin payment support. The payment firm is now open to the idea of accepting cryptocurrencies again.

An Increasing Number of Fintech Platforms are Now Accepting Cryptos

Stripe ended Bitcoin payment support three years ago. However, the cryptocurrency market has evolved since then and has gotten bigger. The total cryptocurrency market cap hit $3 trillion two weeks ago. If the bulls regain control, the market cap could be set to go higher over the next few weeks and months.

Last month, Stripe revealed that it is putting together a cryptocurrency team as it prepares to re-enter the market. However, it hasn’t decided the services it would offer within the cryptocurrency space yet.

Numerous payment platforms and fintech firms have entered the cryptocurrency space over the past year. Neteller is a leading payment platform that accepts cryptocurrencies on its website. PayPal, one of the leading fintech companies in the world, launched its cryptocurrency trading services late last year. PayPal has already expanded to the UK and plans to make its services to its users worldwide.

Robinhood is another leading fintech company that has become heavily involved with cryptocurrencies. MoneyGram’s partnership with USDC issuer Circle and the Stellar Foundation allows its users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies at any of its outlets across the United States. Overall, the cryptocurrency market continues to gain adoption, and traditional banks and other financial institutions are starting to troop into the space.