Global payments giant Stripe is building what it calls an “AWS for money,” and crypto is at the heart of the plan.
Speaking at the RWA Summit in Cannes, France, Adrien Duchâteau, Head of Cryptocurrency Marketing at Stripe, said that the company is currently integrating stablecoins and blockchain into its core payments stack to modernize the way money moves globally.
“We’re putting more products on the chain,” he said.
The move builds on the company’s long (albeit uneven) crypto history. Stripe is one of the first big tech companies to embrace Bitcoin Duchâteau said BTC payments were enabled back in 2014 but were removed in 2018 after volatility made them impractical for merchants. He added that the company is returning in 2021 with a dedicated cryptocurrency team, betting that the underlying technology is mature enough to support real-world use.
Use stablecoins to speed up payments
The company’s blockchain goals focus on solving a core problem: global payments remain slow and expensive. Duchâteau explained that cross-border transfers still rely on systems such as SWIFT, which can take days to settle. For platforms that pay creators or contractors, this delay often determines the payment schedule.
He said that Stripe processes nearly $2 trillion in payments annually (about 2% of global GDP) and serves more than 5 million businesses around the world, so even incremental improvements in settlement could have widespread impacts.
“We operate in a T+3 network,” he said, meaning a transaction typically takes three days from payment to settlement. “If you reduce that to zero, that’s a huge change.”
To realize this vision, Stripe acquired stablecoin infrastructure company Bridge for $1.1 billion in 2024 and then acquired crypto wallet provider Privy. It has also partnered with cryptocurrency investment firm Paradigm to develop a payments-focused blockchain called Tempo, which went live last month with infrastructure partners including Mastercard, UBS, Klarna and Visa.
The company has already launched a stablecoin feature. Merchants can accept stablecoins at checkout, including through Shopify, while platforms like Remote.com allow users to receive payments in cryptocurrency. Through Bridge, it also helps fintech companies like Klarna and Slash issue stablecoins and integrate them into their operations.
Shortcomings in banking supervision
Needs are emerging where traditional systems cannot meet them. Duchâteau pointed to users in emerging markets seeking U.S. dollar exposure, as well as a growing number of customers turning to stablecoins after card payments fail.
“We’re seeing people who were declined for their credit cards switch to stablecoins,” he said.
Stripe’s approach is not to replace fiat currency, but to abstract the difference. Over time, Duchâteau said, users will no longer need to know whether a transaction is running on a traditional rail or a blockchain rail.
Stripe aims to be the “AWS of money,” routing and coordinating the flow of money across systems, similar to how cloud platforms manage global computing resources, he said.
This includes future products beyond payments, such as providing revenue or access to capital in markets where Stripe has previously had limited influence. Duchâteau pointed out that taking emerging countries such as Argentina as an example, stablecoins and decentralized finance (DeFi) can achieve services that are difficult to provide by traditional banks.
“The technology didn’t exist before. Now we’re getting to the point where we can actually make it happen,” he said. “We’re very excited and are redoubling our efforts.”