Jun 27, 2024
Coinbase Partners With Stripe to Enable USDC Transfers on Base
, Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg) -- Coinbase Global Inc. announced a partnership with payments processor Stripe Inc. that will enable USDC stablecoin transfers on Base, the crypto exchange’s blockchain project meant to be the centerpiece of its expansion into decentralized finance.
Stripe is also adding USDC on Base to its fiat-to-crypto on-ramp, and in turn that on-ramp is being added to the Coinbase Wallet. That will enable users on either platform to instantly buy USDC with credit cards and Apple Pay.
“Crypto technology has advanced to the point where it provides a faster and more efficient infrastructure that we think is primed to enable broader adoption to users around the world,” said Shan Aggarwal, Coinbase’s vice president of corporate and business development.
Stripe’s partnership with Coinbase is the latest move by the fintech giant to bring back crypto payments, following an announcement in April that its merchants would be able to take the USDC stablecoin as a form of payment. Stablecoins like USDC are cryptocurrencies designed to track another asset — in this case the US dollar — one-to-one. In 2022, privately held Stripe piloted a program that allowed creators on Twitter to get paid in USDC. However, the last time Stripe accepted Bitcoin payments was in 2018, when the company halted the service in part due to a lack of demand.
USDC, issued by Circle Internet Financial Ltd., has overtaken Tether this year in stablecoin transaction volume, according to data compiled by Visa Inc. Stablecoins continue to gain traction in crypto and fintech, with PayPal Holdings Inc. introducing its PYUSD stablecoin last year.
Coinbase launched Base last February, marketing the blockchain as a “bridge” between Coinbase users and the rest of the crypto world. A software upgrade on Ethereum in March is credited with fueling the growth of Base, which is a so-called Layer 2 blockchain built on top of Ethereum. Since its launch, memecoin activity has exploded on the blockchain, with the total value of cryptocurrencies sent to Base topping $1.5 billion, according to tracker DeFiLlama.
“Historically, we’ve had technology that has been a little bit more slow and expensive,” Aggarwal said. “But particularly with the launch of Base, we can now deliver fast and efficient payments.”
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
