Stripe Unleashes Stablecoin Payments for AI, SaaS & Creators—Crypto Goes Mainstream

Fintech giant Stripe just bulldozed another barrier to crypto adoption—now users can pay for AI tools, SaaS subscriptions, and creator content using stablecoins. No more fiat detours.

The move signals a quiet surrender by traditional finance: even payment processors can't ignore the $150B stablecoin economy anymore. (But don't worry, banks—you can still take your 3% cut on card transactions.)

For crypto natives, it's a long-overdue win. Dollar-pegged tokens finally get their killer app: actually buying things without volatility headaches. For Web3 startups? A lifeline to reach customers beyond the blockchain bubble.

One catch: Stripe's only supporting USDC for now. Because when you're bridging crypto and real-world commerce, you hedge your bets—even if it means cozying up to Circle and their Wall Street pals.

So grab your stablecoins and start subscribing. The future of payments is here... and for once, it doesn't require explaining gas fees to your CFO.

Users can connect popular wallets like MetaMask, Phantom, Coinbase Wallet, and Trust Wallet to directly pay with Circle’s USDC stablecoin.

Stripe Stablecoin Smart Contracts Eliminate Manual Transaction Signing

To enable stablecoin subscriptions, Stripe built a smart contract that resolves a fundamental limitation around wallet owners typically needing to manually “sign” each transaction.

The smart contract lets customers save their wallet as a payment method and authorize recurring payments, without needing to re-sign each transaction. This works with more than 400 supported wallets.

Since launching stablecoin payments a year ago, Stripe has seen them enable rapid global expansion for fast-growing companies.

The top 20 AI companies on Stripe draw 60% of their revenue from outside the country, but cross-border payments can be expensive, slow to settle, and often fail outright.

Why AI Companies Are Shifting 20% of Payments to Stablecoins

AI companies like Shadeform report that approximately 20% of their payment volume comes from stablecoins, which settle near-instantaneously and cost half as much per transaction to process.

here it is, payment mass adoption@shadeformai uses @USDC to simplify global payments, reduce risks, and lower costs.

integration with @stripe has made it seamless:

automatic conversion, low fees, and business growth. Stablecoins have become a key tool for 20% of… pic.twitter.com/GUhmF58HTu

This prompted Stripe to launch subscription capabilities for the 30% of businesses on its platform with recurring business models.

The stablecoin subscription feature is compatible with Elements, Checkout, the Payment Intents API, and Payment Links, and also supports one-off payments.

However, it limits transactions to $10,000 per transaction and $100,000 per month, restricting large-scale applications.

Alex Mashrabov, CEO of Higgsfield AI, said,“Stablecoin payments via Stripe help us reduce our cost of revenue for payments from all around the globe, attract more tech-forward users, and reach folks who don’t have access to other payment methods.”

Similarly, on September 30, Stripe launched Open Issuance, a platform from its subsidiary Bridge that allows businesses to create and manage their own stablecoins.

Major Stablecoin Initiatives by Stripe and Leading Payment Platforms

With Open Issuance, companies can mint and burn tokens without restrictions, customize reserve structures, and earn rewards on their holdings.

Zach Abrams, Co-founder and CEO of Bridge, believes businesses based on money transfer should invest in stablecoins, with Open Issuance helping them build on top of stablecoins they control and customize.

In early September, Stripe also launched Tempo, a payments-focused LAYER 1 blockchain designed for high-throughput stablecoin transactions, with Visa, Deutsche Bank, and Standard Chartered as initial design partners.

Tempo addresses infrastructure limitations as existing blockchains process between 5 and 1,000 transactions per second, while Stripe handles peaks exceeding 10,000 TPS.

Stripe's Tempo blockchain begins testing with financial giants like Visa, Deutsche Bank, and Standard Chartered, targeting 100,000+ TPS for stablecoin payments.#Stripe #Stablecoin #Cryptohttps://t.co/mPsL0OQniD

The blockchain features fiat-denominated fees rather than blockchain-specific tokens, with users paying gas fees in any stablecoin through an automated market Maker system.

Stripe CEO: Stablecoins Will Force Banks to Raise 0.40% Deposit Rates

Stripe CEO Patrick Collison believes that the growing popularity of stablecoins will eventually force banks to raise deposit yields or risk losing customers.

Responding to venture capitalist Nic Carter on X, Collison said depositors “are going to, and should, earn something closer to a market return on their capital.”

Citing savings account yields of just 0.40% in the US and 0.25% in the EU, Collison argued that banks have relied too heavily on cheap deposits. “Cheap deposits are great, but being so consumer-hostile feels to me like a losing position,” he added.