Stripe expands crypto purchasing into European market

The online payments giant will now make it easier for Europeans to buy crypto online using their credit or debit cards

Stripe has expanded its cryptocurrency integration into the Europe Union, allowing shoppers to buy Bitcoin, Ether, Solana and others using their credit or debit cards.

The move is part of a push by Stripe, which was founded by Limerick-born brothers Patrick and John Collison, to make it easier for normal transactions to happen using the virtual assets.

Aimed initially at crypto marketplaces and vendors, the EU expansion comes after Stripe recently announced that it would start supporting ‘stablecoin’ payments, where transactions instantly settle and convert automatically to non-crypto ‘fiat’ currencies such as euros or dollars.

Stripe says that online vendors can now add a crypto-purchasing ‘widget’ on their websites and that it will handle issues such as charges, disputes and ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) regulatory responsibilities relating to the online crypto payments.

Ireland regularly scores highly in European surveys on per-capita cryptocurrency ownership.

“This expansion allows crypto companies to help European consumers buy cryptocurrencies quickly and easily,” said John Egan, head of crypto at Stripe.

“Now, merchants who rely on Stripe’s onramp for things like conversion optimization, identity verification, and fraud prevention can reach a more global audience. This lets them focus on growing their business and helping their customers.”

Stripe, which is jointly headquartered in Dublin and San Francisco, is one of the world’s largest online payment companies and is used by thousands of major ecommerce firms. Its last financial update revealed that it handled over $1 trillion of payments in 2023, up 25pc on the year before that.

Earlier this week, Stripe’s valuation rose to $70bn (€64.2bn) after one of Silicon Valley’s biggest venture capital investors, Sequioa Capital, agreed to buy up to $861m (€790m) in private shares from other investors.

Reporting on:independent.ie