Stripe Takes Aim at Stablecoin Giants—Announces Rival to USDT, USDC, and RLUSD

Payments heavyweight Stripe is throwing its hat into the stablecoin ring—because what crypto needs is another dollar-pegged token. The fintech giant is reportedly building a competitor to Tether’s USDT, Circle’s USDC, and the upstart RLUSD, though details remain scarce.

Why now? Stripe’s move comes as stablecoins cement their role as crypto’s plumbing—handling $150B+ in daily volume while dodging the regulatory scrutiny raining down on the rest of the industry. Nothing says ’financial innovation’ like recreating dollars with extra steps.

The play: Leverage Stripe’s existing merchant network to bypass the liquidity struggles plaguing newer stablecoins. If executed well, this could be the first corporate stablecoin that doesn’t flop harder than a 2021 DeFi ponzi.

Patrick Collison, Stripe’s CEO, confirmed the new product on X by posting a request for companies interested in beta testing it. This announcement gained considerable attention after Stripe recently received regulatory approval to purchase Bridge.

Bridge’s network competes with banks and other corporations that utilize SWIFT, a global payment messaging system that facilitates international wire transfers. Co-founded in 2022 by Coinbase alums Zach Abrams and Sean Yu, this company operates on a radically different business model.

Stripe has a long history with crypto, integrated Bitcoin (BTC) in 2014, and became the first major payment processor. However, the company halted support due to long transfer times and high transaction fees. Efforts in the crypto space led to Stripe rebuilding its crypto team starting in 2021.

In recent years, they appear to have greatly increased that effort. On the first day of rollout, consumers in more than 70 countries embraced the stablecoin payment capability that the company had enabled.
Stripe and Coinbase partnered to provide fiat-to-crypto conversions. According to Collison on X, Stripe has “wanted to build for around a decade” with its most recent cryptocurrency endeavor.
Stablecoins are digital currencies linked to assets, such as fiat money, to maintain value. USD-backed stablecoins have garnered more federal attention in the US, with leaders like US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell advocating for specific legislation.