Why Stripe’s Stablecoins Might Just Save Your Business (Or Not) 🤑

Finance

What to know:

  • Collison once eyed crypto’s usefulness like a skeptical farmer staring at newfangled tractors-then stablecoins came riding in like a trusted mule.
  • Tempo’s not a flashy stage performer; it’s the backstage crew making sure the show runs smooth, the SWIFT and ACH of the 21st century, minus the jazz hands.
  • SpaceX, DolarApp, and an Argentinian bike importer all play footsie with stablecoins through Bridge, a Stripe scoop from 2024.

Patrick Collison, the man steering Stripe through this murky payment swamp, said folks are flocking to stablecoins because they’re faster than a jackrabbit on a date, cheaper than your average fast-food meal, and about as reliable as Aunt Clara’s old watch. Traditional payment systems? Well, they seem like ancient relics next to this shiny new thing.

He spilled the beans in a Hacker News chatterbox on September 5, 2025-right after Stripe and Paradigm birthed Tempo, their shiny new blockchain baby dedicated to stablecoin dealings.

Back in the day, Collison grumbled that crypto payments were a letdown, like a rain-soaked picnic. But as businesses started slipping stablecoins into their daily hustle, he changed his tune faster than a fiddler at a barn dance.

The secret sauce? Bridge-Stripe’s 2024 catch-that’s helping SpaceX send money to places tougher to reach than a scarecrow’s handshake, aiding Latin America’s DolarApp, and giving an Argentinian bike importer a slick way to pay suppliers without fuss.

“These folks ain’t in it for shiny coins or crypto fever dreams,” Collison said, probably with a twinkle in his eye. “They’re doing the real grind, and it turns out this stablecoin stuff is slicker, quicker, and just cleaner than the old ways.”

Asked if you and I would soon be whipping out Tempo wallets at the grocery, Collison laughed gently. No, Tempo’s the quiet workhorse behind the curtain-like SWIFT or ACH-handling the money rustling so normal folks don’t have to lift a finger. He called it a “decentralized, internet-scale SWIFT,” which sounds fancy but really means “don’t sweat it, it just works.”

When cornered about why companies dig crypto payments, Collison offered five gems: near-instant money moves stopping cash from getting stuck, fewer fees than card swipes, smoother cross-border tango, less currency juggling, and a straight-up highway to U.S. dollars on-chain.

He waved off any wild conspiracy that businesses just wanted to dodge regulators. Nope, stablecoins have their rules – the GENIUS Act in the U.S. and MiCA in Europe – and their real charm is cutting through the payment drudgery.

Tempo arrived on the scene as a “payments-first” blockchain, born out of Stripe’s hunt for global payment wisdom and Paradigm’s crypto wizardry. Its promised gifts? Predictable low fees, privacy options, and a playground where you can pay transaction and gas costs in any stablecoin you fancy.

It’s built to juggle over 100,000 transactions a second, with finality faster than you can say “show me the money.” Whether paying payroll, sending remittances, or handling microtransactions smaller than a flea’s paycheck, Tempo’s ready to take the reins.

Stripe and Paradigm made sure governance isn’t a clown show. Tempo will be corralled by a diverse set of validators, inching closer to a free-range, permissionless wild west someday.

Their merry band of partners reads like a greatest hits of finance and tech: Visa, Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank, Nubank, Revolut, Shopify, OpenAI, Anthropic, Coupang, DoorDash, Lead Bank, and Mercury-basically everyone except your friendly neighborhood barista.

Read More

2025-09-06 17:34