In this essay, I'll share a few reasons why you might want to perk up at the news that Stripe is adding crypto to their payment tools.

If you've been selling online as a consultant, coach, or course creator for any amount of time over the past few years, chances are you have a merchant account with Stripe.

It's one of the de facto payment options for the online creator economy, and seamlessly works with all the major shopping cart tools including my favorite, ThriveCart.

John Collison, co-founder of Stripe shared the big news via Twitter yesterday:

Here's 3 Reasons why the Stripe Crypto Payments Announcement Matters:

Stripe Crypto Payments Signal Wider Adoption

Outside of the hardcore crypto community, there's been a lack of mainstream, high-trust solutions for accepting cryptocurrency payments. Shopping cart providers like ThriveCart and SamCart have likely been hesitant to create tools for this, because it's been unclear who to partner with, and which solutions would emerge as trustworthy and sustainable options.

Here's a screenshot of a comment from founder of ThriveCart, Josh Bartlett, last year around this:

With Stripe coming into this space, it's highly likely that more shopping cart tools and payment platforms will begin to integrate the ability to accept cryptocurrency payments alongside existing options like credit card, Paypal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.

It will be interesting to see how this announcement changes the conversation. 

Stripe has a high trust factor, invests heavily in fraud prevention, and will likely help to usher in a new wave of adoption of crypto payment solutions across many industries.

Stripe Adoption Creates an Opportunity to Access New Customers

Stripe will connect to crypto exchanges and allow users in more than 180 countries to deposit funds via dozens of local payment methods. Merchants will be able to be paid out in fiat currencies in 45+ countries.

This represents an opportunity for online businesses to reach new customers who may not use credit cards, and who would likely take advantage of the ability to pay for goods and services using cryptocurrency in the future.

There Will Be New Emergent Payment Solutions For Creators

Alongside the crypto payment announcement, Stripe also unveiled new partnerships with FTX and Nifty Gateway.

Here's a tweet from the President of FTX, Brett Harrison announcing the partnership:

As cryptocurrency continues to become more mainstream, new players will begin to emerge with innovative payment solutions that favor ease of use, making the acceptance of cryptocurrency more frictionless for the consumer.

In closing, existing shopping cart solutions will either need to move quickly to adopt crypto payments, or risk losing market share to new players who understand that this technology isn’t simply a novel trend.

I'd recommend engaging with your payment solution providers around this topic. Ask for an update around their roadmap, and request that they begin looking at these new integration possibilities if it's not already on their radar.

Keeping abreast of these changes will help to ensure you are well positioned for the future with your online business.

Additional Reading:

• Stripe launches payments support for crypto businesses, partners with FTX - Stripe has rolled out payment support for crypto businesses including a partnership with FTX that also involves helping it with KYC. (theblockcrypto.com)
• Stripe announces fiat payment support for cryptocurrencies and NFTs - Stripe also launched an open drop of NFT collectibles dubbed “Cube Thingies” via Nifty Gateway for nonprofit healthcare tech organization Watsi. (cointelegraph.com)
• Stripe gets friendly with crypto, again – TechCrunch - Payments giant Stripe already powers a pretty major swath of the web’s financial infrastructure, now it’s launching crypto payments support to give customers an easier path to onboard web3 users and interact with cryptocurrencies. The company announced a suite of products today aiming to give custom... (techcrunch.com)
• Payments giant Stripe says it's reentering the crypto market – TechCrunch - Payments company Stripe announced it’s building out a new crypto team to help build out the “future of Web3 payments,” according to public statements posted to Twitter on Tuesday. Stripe, which had once been among the first to support Bitcoin payments before leaving the market a few years ago, has b... (techcrunch.com)
• Stripe is Open to Accepting Crypto Payments Again - An increasing number of fintech platforms and financial institutions are entering the crypto space. (yahoo.com)
• Payments Giant Stripe Launches Support for Crypto, NFTs - Decrypt - Stripe today launched its crypto services, offering businesses the ability to use it as a payment method for crypto and NFT transactions. (decrypt.co)

Interested in continuing to learn more about Web3 and Crypto topics that relate to running an online business as a coach, consultant, or course creator?

Check out these additional links:

Looking to explore this exciting world of blockchain and Web3 in a deeper way, but not quite sure where to start?

I highly recommend joining The Invisible College.  The Invisible College is a learning DAO that gives you the skills, network, and opportunities to make an impact.

The Invisible College is a school owned by the students where you can learn, build, and create in this exciting new world of Web3.

Joining this organization has been the best decision I've made this year so far for my growth and learning, and I'm excited to see how the organization evolves.

Want to read more articles like this? Subscribe to The Wizard’s Chest where I drop all the loot.

Would you like to support my writing on Web3? Consider checking out this NFT.