Payments giant Checkout.com is accepting stablecoins

Global payments giant Checkout.com has announced that it will now accept payments in stable digital currencies, stablecoins.

According to the company, all cryptocurrency services are based on Fireblocks crypto technology. Checkout.com pilot-tested the solution over six months with Web3’s core businesses.

“During this pilot, we facilitated the settlement of over $300 million using USDC. We test, refine and optimize ways for customers’ online fiat transactions to be paid to merchants through USDC,” the announcement reads.

Stable digital currencies at Checkout.com

Now, after the success of the test, the company will make the solution available to more merchants. For now, the company said it will support the stablecoin USC Coin (USDC), issued by Circle. However, there are plans to expand support to a wider range of digital assets.

Also in the announcement, the company said that it today provides fiat processing and payments to 8 of the world’s 12 largest digital asset exchanges. This includes, for example, Blockchain.com, Binance and Crypto.com.

As Jess Houlgrave, Head of Crypto Strategy at Checkout, highlighted, with support for stablecoins, traders can remove “sticking points and bottlenecks”.

As an example, he cited the issue of settlement time windows in traditional systems. In addition, he mentioned the complex issues of existing compensation systems.

However, payments with USDC resolve this issue. After all, they allow companies to access working capital faster and with near-instant settlement of transactions, instead of having to wait for days as it used to be.

Why not BTC?

Choosing stable digital currencies over assets with the BTC was due to its customers being concerned about volatility.

“In our survey, 55% said that digital currency price volatility and the risk of assets on the balance sheet regularly experiencing double-digit losses or gains overnight impede large-scale institutional adoption. Thus, we believe that fully guaranteed and redeemable USD-indexed stablecoins provide the answer.”

Another problem that stablecoins solve has to do with Web 3.0 business. According to the company, these businesses have complicated contracts, expensive fees, as well as provider fees.

But with stable dollar settlement on the blockchain, companies can reduce their transaction expenses. That’s because they can use a single platform to get reliable settlements on a large scale.