Coinbase has launched a stablecoin payments stack to make it easier for online merchants around the world to accept USDC.
Already live with Shopify, Coinbase Payments is designed to take the blockchain complexity out of stablecoin payments so that payment service providers, marketplaces, and commerce infra providers can roll it quickly to the market.
The system comprises a fast, wallet-native checkout for USDC payments across hundreds of wallets like Coinbase Wallet, MetaMask, and Phantom. Then an API layer for merchant platforms and PSPs handles authorisation, capture, refunds, ledgering, subscriptions, and key management. Finally, open-source smart contracts power secure, scalable onchain transactions.
Stablecoins have rapidly moved into the mainstream in recent months, with Citi predicting that their total outstanding supply could grow from $230 billion to anything from $1.6 trillion to $3.7 trillion by 2030.
This week, the US Senate passed stablecoin legislation, while Visa has said that every institution that moves money will need a strategy for the new instrument.