Payments Giant Stripe to Pilot Crypto Payouts With Twitter

Stripe continues its crypto endeavors with a new pilot program that will let some Twitter users get paid in the popular stablecoin USDC.

By Liam J. Kelly

Stripe is a payments firm dual-based in the United States and Ireland.

Stripe’s latest announcement may make it easier for creators worldwide to hold dollars. 

It’s a small step, but the payment giant is launching a new crypto pilot on Twitter. The move is part of an expansion of Stripe’s Connect service, which lets businesses connect with the firm’s payment APIs, including its KYC onboarding. 

The service allows for various payment methods and currencies, and is available in over 70 countries. 

Today’s news now shows Stripe’s intention of including cryptocurrencies in this service, citing difficulties in continuing to expand the firm’s geographical coverage. 

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“While the ‘store of value’ aspects of cryptocurrencies typically receive the most attention, we view the prospect of ‘open-access global financial rails’ as being at least equally compelling,” read a prepared statement from Stripe. “As a result, we’ve been exploring ways to use cryptocurrency-based platforms to unlock broader access.”

This exploration has led to the launch of the crypto payouts pilot, which will offer a “select group of creators on Twitter” the option to get paid in crypto. 

Unpacking Stripe’s crypto payouts pilot 

The payouts will be executed on the speedy crypto network Polygon and will only support Circle’s USDC stablecoin at first. Adding other networks beyond Polygon are also on the agenda, according to Stripe. 

Twitter users included in the pilot will be allowed to opt-in to receive their payouts in USDC. They can then bridge them to the Ethereum blockchain or simply hodl on Polygon. 

Twitter’s various monetization services like Super Follows and Ticketed Spaces are expected to integrate the pilot. Super Follows lets users create unique, paywalled content for followers. Ticketed Spaces is as it sounds: Live Spaces events let users charge followers to enter the event. 

Stripe’s pilot offering also comes roughly a month after the firm began servicing crypto companies. 

On the list so far are crypto exchange FTX, NFT platform Nifty Gateway, Blockchain.com, and others.