By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 25th, 2024
Checkout.com announced its stablecoins move amid the general crypto fiasco. Major crypto assets have plunged substantially from their ATHs last year, and Bitcoin has lost over 50% from its record high.
Payment giant Checkout.com has started allowing businesses to accept and make payments using stablecoins. The online payments company partnered with crypto-security firm Fireblocks to enable the new payment feature. Checkout.com has become the latest company to adopt crypto payments with stablecoins enablement. Also, the company said it would settle payments for its merchants with stablecoins. Announcing the latest move on the 7th of June, Checkout.com said it has started letting clients conduct business using USD Coin (USDC).
Checkout.com Announces Stablecoins Feature
Stablecoins are coins whose value is tied to another currency. These coins play an integral role in the crypto market, helping investors trade digital currencies without the banks acting as third parties. The stablecoin Checkout announced support for USDC, the second-biggest stablecoin in the world.
The Head of Crypto Strategy at Checkout.com, Jess Houlgrave, highlighted the benefit of enabling stablecoins. Houlgrave said USDC would permit merchants to sort payments daily, including weekends and holidays. On the other hand, it is currently impossible to settle payments on such days with fiat currencies. She compared when a person buys Bitcoin and gets it almost instantly to how financial institutions and card schemes like Mastercard (NYSE: MA) may delay the receipt of funds for days. Houlgrave told CNBC that there is a “working capital constraint” between when the Bitcoin was sent and when the receiver gets the funds.
Before the official announcement of the stablecoins feature, Checkout.com said it had conducted tests over the past months. The only payment company has already facilitated $300 million in transaction volumes. Following a successful trial, the company is rolling out the product globally. Notably, Bahamas-based crypto exchange FTX will be one of the first to use the new feature.
Ahead of Checkout.com, Stripe has launched its own stablecoin payments feature. In April, the company announced that Twitter would be the first company to integrate the latest payment method. Following the integration, Twitter creators may begin to receive payment in USDC.
Crypto Adoption Grows amid Declines
Interestingly, Checkout.com announced its stablecoins move amid the general crypto fiasco. Major crypto assets have plunged substantially from their ATHs last year, and Bitcoin has lost over 50% from its record high. In May, Terra USD crumpled, raising fear among investors. At the same time, more investors are trooping into the crypto space. The crypto industry is growing at an alarming rate and regulators are getting more concerned. Many prominent US government officials have called for the proper pf crypto regulation. Treasury Janet Yellen desires that the US watchdog conclude and approve stablecoins regulation by year-end. The same goes for the UK government. Last week, Britain unveiled proposals to give the Bank of England the authority to intervene and manage stablecoins.