Stripe Launches Fiat-to-Crypto On-Ramp

Popular payment processor Stripe, which has been valued as high as $95 billion, is launching a fiat-to-crypto on-ramp, allowing crypto companies to make it easier for customers to interact with their services.

And it’s kind of a big deal.

The Ramp

Getting funds on-chain and into web3 applications is a major pain for users.

The normal flow is to go from your bank account, to an exchange, and finally to a web3 wallet. It’s not fun, and it’s a major hurdle toward mass DeFi adoption.

The ideal method would be to skip the exchange and go directly from your bank account to the DeFi app. Not only would it be easier, but it would be safer, as you wouldn’t need to take the risk of keeping money on an exchange (cough, FTX, cough).

That is exactly what Stripe’s on-ramp is enabling.

The ramp will function as a customizable widget that directly plugs in DeFi apps, with Stripe handling all KYC requirements, payments, fraud, and compliance.

With the development, the only thing DeFi developers will have to worry about is making great apps.

Why Is This Important?

Crypto adoption continues to be the most important factor for the health of the crypto ecosystem.

Sure, there are hundreds of millions of people buying and selling crypto on exchanges, betting on the price to go up. But focusing on merely prices leads to short-sightedness.

What we really need in the system is people using cryptoassets. Whether that be through money like bitcoin, smart contracts like ethereum, or directly in DeFi applications.

Stripe’s new move, as a trusted payment provider, could lead to applications that previously weren’t focusing on crypto to begin exploring use cases in their apps in new and intriguing ways.