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Why Stripe Gave Up on Bitcoin and Blockchain Payments

1996 8y ago
TLDR: a company slahes some piece of new technology that might make them obsolete
- gdulli 8y ago
  The fact it might make you obsolete is why you're pressured to get on board with it in the first place. Feeling it's safe to ditch it means you've figured out that it's not going to be a threat.
  - 1996 8y ago
    or if you are afraid any legitimity you could give would hasten your demise. in the end, you still have to swallow the bitter pill if you want to stay relevant - like Microsoft did with Linux
    - Fjolsvith 8y ago
      They probably cut it because they weren't going to make as much money as their other transaction processing. Online stores can add crypto payment easily through sites like coinpayments.net. And when those transaction fees are a half of a percent, of course consumers are going to embrace that. My material supplier recently started tacking on the 3% credit card convenience fee for swiping a card. It won't take long for a company to come up with a solution for retail that will only cost 1% or less for the consumer.
  - luddaite 8y ago
    If we give Stripe's management the benefit of the doubt then I think you are correct. If they are acting rationally then they would seek out technologies that threaten their business model and try to incorporate them to mitigate that risk. Dropping bitcoin would indicate that their internal metrics indicate that the technology is not currently a sufficient threat to their business.
  - arisAlexis 8y ago
    marky words (I am also willing to bet) that they will return when LN is ready. Their founders totally like crypto. There was an interview last year. The COO seems to go her own way
willio58 8y ago
It's odd there is no mention of Stellar Lumens in here. Seems relevant since one of Stellar's board members is the Former CTO at Stripe and the current CEO at Stripe is an advisor.
crb002 8y ago
Trusted 3rd Party is way more efficient. Stripe should take on Dwolla, except back it in BTC. Dynamics of BTC valuation plus the fast/clean/reversible/aggregation goddies of a trusted third party. Win win.
arisAlexis 8y ago
strange that a payment provider doesn't like the tech that aims to replace it.

1996 8y ago

TLDR: a company slahes some piece of new technology that might make them obsolete

gdulli 8y ago
The fact it might make you obsolete is why you're pressured to get on board with it in the first place. Feeling it's safe to ditch it means you've figured out that it's not going to be a threat.
- 1996 8y ago
  or if you are afraid any legitimity you could give would hasten your demise. in the end, you still have to swallow the bitter pill if you want to stay relevant - like Microsoft did with Linux
  - Fjolsvith 8y ago
    They probably cut it because they weren't going to make as much money as their other transaction processing. Online stores can add crypto payment easily through sites like coinpayments.net. And when those transaction fees are a half of a percent, of course consumers are going to embrace that. My material supplier recently started tacking on the 3% credit card convenience fee for swiping a card. It won't take long for a company to come up with a solution for retail that will only cost 1% or less for the consumer.
- luddaite 8y ago
  If we give Stripe's management the benefit of the doubt then I think you are correct. If they are acting rationally then they would seek out technologies that threaten their business model and try to incorporate them to mitigate that risk. Dropping bitcoin would indicate that their internal metrics indicate that the technology is not currently a sufficient threat to their business.
- arisAlexis 8y ago
  marky words (I am also willing to bet) that they will return when LN is ready. Their founders totally like crypto. There was an interview last year. The COO seems to go her own way

It's odd there is no mention of Stellar Lumens in here. Seems relevant since one of Stellar's board members is the Former CTO at Stripe and the current CEO at Stripe is an advisor.

crb002 8y ago

Trusted 3rd Party is way more efficient. Stripe should take on Dwolla, except back it in BTC. Dynamics of BTC valuation plus the fast/clean/reversible/aggregation goddies of a trusted third party. Win win.

arisAlexis 8y ago

strange that a payment provider doesn't like the tech that aims to replace it.