Shopify, Coinbase, Stripe bring USDC stablecoin payments to merchants

Editorial

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As a result of this collaboration, merchants can accept USDC from global customers using their existing payment and order fulfillment flows, with no required integrations or new gateways. Customers can pay with USDC from hundreds of supported crypto wallets, on guest checkout and with Shop Pay.

Merchants will also receive their local currency by default, with no foreign transaction or exchange fees applied. They can choose to claim USDC directly into their own wallet, allowing flexibility in managing their funds.

According to a Shopify statement, stablecoins “are reshaping the way money moves around the world. Over the past few years, stablecoins like USDC have grown to over a trillion dollars in monthly payment volume, trusted by users around the globe.”

The statement explains that unlike “cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ether, whose value can widely fluctuate, stablecoins such as USDC are backed 1:1 by US Dollar reserves, and maintain a constant value. When customers pay in USDC, merchants get a currency that’s safe, reliable, and easy to exchange.” 

Further, Coinbase’s Base, a fast and affordable network that operates not unlike a credit card network, is becoming increasingly accepted. Alongside this, buyer wallets, which allow users to hold and spend digital currencies, now offer a good customer experience.

Merchants need payment systems that can handle complex transactions and checkout steps like tax finalisation and inventory reservation. Shopify and Coinbase have addressed these challenges with a smart contract, where merchants get the familiar ‘authorise now, capture later’ flexibility of credit cards, with the speed and global reach of stablecoins.