US fintech giant Stripe has stepped up its crypto initiatives significantly after launching a service that enables payments for NFTs and digital assets via fiat currency.
Businesses can use Stripe’s new application programming interfaces (APIs) to accept fiat payments for crypto, provide digital wallets, pay users in fiat, leverage identity and know-your-customer solutions (KYC), and use the data to detect and block fraudulent transactions.
Stripe co-founder John Collinson shared an announcement via Twitter on March 11, and the company has also partnered with FTX, FTX US, Blockchain.com, Nifty Gateway, and Just Mining to launch the crypto trading suite.
Stripe now supports crypto businesses: exchanges, on-ramps, wallets and NFT marketplaces. Not only payments, but also payments, KYC and identity verification, fraud prevention and much more. https://t.co/3X173SkdPd
— John Collison (@collision) March 10, 2022
Speaking on the partnership, FTX Chief Strategy Officer Tristan Yver underline that the deal will help the company appeal to a wider mainstream audience by making it easier for users to buy crypto assets:
“The optimizations we’ve made to our payment setup with Stripe deliver the seamless on-ramp experience that FTX’s growing customer base demands. We’re able to multiply revenue by making it easier than ever to invest in crypto.”
As part of the move, Stripe also launched an open drop of NFT collectibles dubbed “Cube Thingies” through Nifty Gateway. The NFTs cost between $242.42 and $424.24 each at mint, and all proceeds from the sale will go to the nonprofit health tech organization Watsi.
Stripe now supports NFT sales – and we’re doing our own drop today!
An open edition NFT drop brought to you by @Bandaged and @niftygateway.
All proceeds benefit nonprofit health care @watsi.
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. ET: https://t.co/Js0qCYQ4KN. pic.twitter.com/iUM6zGj01C
—edwin (@edwinwee) March 10, 2022
Stripe initially rolled out Bitcoin (BTC) support in 2014, but reversed the decision four years later due to slow transaction speeds and network fees at the time.
Related: Bitcoin price of $40,000 is within reach, but analysts warn a sweep of recent lows is likely
However, the company also said it would re-enter the industry once crypto payments become more viable, and the company has been gradually returning to the crypto industry since late 2021. Cointelegraph reported in October that Stripe was in the process of to build a team to enable crypto payments for its users.