Payments company Stripe, the world's most valuable private startup, is shifting into crypto, a move that has been welcomed by evangelists in the space as a sign of legitimacy for so-called Web 3.0.
On its website, Stripe details the huge range of crypto-focused services on offer now, including fiat payments APIs, Know Your Customer (KYC) tools, fraud prevention, on-ramps, and identify verification.
Stripe President John Collison announced the news in a tweet.
Stripe now supports crypto businesses: exchanges, on-ramps, wallets, and NFT marketplaces. Not just pay-ins but payouts, KYC and identity verification, fraud prevention, and lots more. https://t.co/3X173SkdPdMarch 10, 2022
The move is legitimately huge for the space, as Stripe has become one of the most fundamental financial technology startups of its generation, powering transactions across the entire web through its easy-to-use tools.
FTX, a popular crypto exchange, has partnered with Stripe to help improve its KYC protocols. "We want FTX to become a trusted mainstream brand,” said FTX's Tristan Yver. “We’ve partnered with Stripe to help us transform what could be unintuitive crypto experiences into ones that exceed consumer expectations.”
To Web3 and beyond
The crypto space, often described as Web 3.0, has taken off over the past year, to put it mildly.
Cryptocurrencies, the most popular manifestation of Web 3.0 technology, have risen in value by thousands of percent in some cases, led by Bitcoin and Ether, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) quickly became a hot commodity.
Venture capitalists, including the likes of Andreessen Horowitz, are pouring billions into the space to help nurture the next generation of internet companies, including NFT marketplace OpenSea and crypto exchange Coinbase.
Stripe offering crypto tools is validation of the space in some ways and will certainly make it easier for companies to properly integrate crypto into their products and services.
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