Online payments company Checkout.com says it will settle payments for its merchants using stablecoins, making it the latest financial services firm to move into cryptocurrencies.
The privately held start-up, which competes against PayPal (PYPL) and Stripe and has been valued at $40 billion U.S., said it is launching a feature that allows businesses to settle payments on weekends and public holidays in USD Coin (USDC), a popular stablecoin that’s pegged to the U.S. dollar.
Checkout.com said it is offering the new payment method through a partnership with Fireblocks, a cryptocurrency security firm.
Stablecoins are a key part of the cryptocurrency market, helping investors trade in and out of digital currencies without having to go through banks. With a circulating supply of more than $50 billion U.S., USDC is the world’s second biggest stablecoin.
The new Checkout.com feature will allow merchants to settle payments even on weekends and public holidays, something that’s not currently possible with fiat currencies.
Checkout.com said it has tested the feature privately with select clients, facilitating $300 million U.S. in transaction volumes in the past few months. It now plans to roll the product out globally, with Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange FTX among the first to use it.
Last valued at $40 billion U.S., Checkout.com is the latest major financial institution betting big on cryptocurrencies. Stripe recently launched its own stablecoin payments feature, allowing Twitter creators to get paid in USDC.
Such developments come at a time when cryptocurrencies have tumbled sharply from the peak of a seismic rally last year. Bitcoin (BTC), the largest digital asset, has more than halved in value since hitting an all-time high of $68,000 U.S. last November.
Last month, a stablecoin called TerraUSD imploded after falling below its intended dollar peg, shaking investors’ confidence in cryptocurrencies. TerraUSD, or UST, used code to maintain a price of $1 U.S. That’s different to more mainstream stablecoins like USDC, which are backed by cash and other assets.
