Leading payment gateway in the US, Stripe partnered with OpenNode to reopen Bitcoin (BTC) payments for the first time since four years after the global payment processor suspended support for the cryptocurrency.
Stripe is one of the leading payment processing companies in the US, processing hundreds of billions of dollars in transaction volume each year. Bitcoin is officially back on this platform. The leading payment processor announced that it would be working with Bitcoin payments infrastructure company OpenNode to allow businesses to convert fiat payments into Bitcoin.
Businesses can access Bitcoin via the OpenNode app located in Stripe’s app marketplace. Through the app, Stripe users will be able to convert fiat payments into Bitcoin in real-time.
Stripe took by storm in 2015 when they announced a Bitcoin integration, allowing all Bitcoin payment providers through the platform.
Many consider this the clearest signal for the acceptance of Bitcoin as a payment method, but high fees and long transaction confirmation times have ruined everything. They discontinued Bitcoin integration in 2018 and encouraged customers to get used to the absence of BTC on the platform.
For this rollback, Stripe will partner with OpenNode. This crypto startup uses Lightning Network, a Bitcoin scaling solution, to process transactions off-chain, making on-chain operations faster and cheaper. In February, OpenNode successfully closed a Series A funding round worth $20 million.
The speed and affordability offered by the Lightning Network are key for Stripe to get back on the Bitcoin track. Looking back at the 2018 decision, when Bitcoin integration services were boycotted one after another, the company stated that “BTC is more suitable as an asset than a medium of exchange.”
Josh Held, OpenNode’s head of strategy, said in a statement:
“The app gives businesses a simple and secure way to convert incoming payments to Bitcoin in real-time, automatically or on-demand. It is expected to launch for Stripe users in a few weeks.”
Back in April, Stripe announced its first move into the crypto space after a long absence with support for stablecoin payments USDC for Twitter.
As of yesterday, Bitcoin has been down for a record eight consecutive weeks; since last November, it has shed over 55% of its value. Despite this, the last few weeks have seen companies lining up to integrate crypto into their daily operations not as speculative assets but as forms of accepted payment.
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