Stripe building crypto team three years after ending Bitcoin support

Stripe, a company whose tools allow merchants to accept payments, is looking for talent to support crypto integrations. The company began supporting Bitcoin in 2014, and dropped Bitcoin support in 2018 following what it said was a decrease in demand from customers.

Why should we care?
Stripe’s apparent change of heart on crypto may have to do with the growth of crypto payment integrations across retail and social media platforms. Stripe now says it never gave up on crypto, and was watching the space for opportunities to reintroduce it. “By focusing on these problems and needs, we aim to build faster, more trustworthy, and higher quality crypto-enabled experiences,” the company says. The team will be led by Guillaume Poncin, the company’s former head of engineering for banking and financial products. Engineers on the new team will “design and build the core components that we need to support crypto,” according to a job posting. The company will reportedly support multiple cryptocurrencies. Stripe, which is valued at $95B, says it processes hundreds of billions of dollars in e-commerce each year, and that 90% of American adults have used its technology.