Shopify Working with Coinbase and Stripe to Accept Payment in Stablecoin

Since 2022, Shopify has enabled consumers to make purchases from merchants using major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

But while crypto coins depend their footprint in mainstream markets, some are better suited as investments, while others are more intended for daily purchases.

Those coins intended for more regular use are typically referred to as “stablecoins,” which are designed to demonstrate far less volatility than cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

Globally, stablecoins like USDC have grown to over a trillion dollars in monthly payment volume.

Shopify chief executive officer Tobi Lütke announced this month at Coinbase’s conference in New York that the e-commerce platform will enable merchants to accept payment via USDC, which was launched by Circle in 2018.

Collaborating with Coinbase and Stripe, Shopify promises “frictionless, secure stablecoin payments to merchants around the world.”

“We think that stablecoins are a natural way to transact on the Internet and worked with coinbase to develop the commerce payment protocol smart contract that powers this work,” stated Lütke on X.

If merchants don’t want to claim USDC directly into their own wallet, they will receive their local currency by default, with no foreign transaction or exchange fees, according to Shopify.

The feature is integrated into both Shop Pay and Shopify Payments, according to the Ottawa company, and will eventually be “default on.”

Transactions will go through Base, which is Coinbase’s digital payments network.

Early access has already begun, with a full rollout ongoing through the year.

Shopify is committed to building a world where commerce flows as freely as ideas, according to Lütke.

“We are extremely aligned with everything that crypto stands for,” the CEO stated at the conference.

Last month, Shopify launched a Tap-to-Pay feature directly within its app.

Shares in Shopify are up over the past year as the AI-first company continues to steadily rally from a post-Pandemic tumble. Currently valued at more than $130B, Shopify is the second largest public company in Canada by market cap behind the Royal Bank of Canada.