Paxos, the blockchain firm behind the Pax Dollar stablecoin, is working to expand stablecoin adoption in the payments industry through its new enterprise-grade infrastructure.
Paxos introduced a new stablecoin payments platform targeting payment service providers (PSP) and fintech companies that want to enable stablecoin payments.
On Oct. 15, Paxos announced that Stripe, a global payment processing company, would be the first PSP to integrate Paxos’ infrastructure into its system.
Paxos’ pay-ins workflow involves stablecoins and fiat. Source: Paxos
The infrastructure will be featured on Stripe’s Pay with Crypto product, which allows users to accept stablecoin payments settling in fiat currencies like the United States dollar.
A focus on payment providers
Paxos’ new stablecoin payment platform offers an application programming interface (API) infrastructure that aims to enable faster and lower-cost global payments than traditional payment methods.
“We’re currently focused on PSPs, fintechs and other providers who will be embedding this infrastructure into their systems, rather than individual merchant outreach, so specific merchant requirements are up to each provider,” a spokesperson for Paxos told Cointelegraph.
To use the platform, customers need to set up a wallet with Paxos. Merchants and PSPs can then choose whether to receive stablecoins or convert funds to fiat currency using Paxos.
Support for multiple stablecoins and US dollar
At launch, Paxos’ stablecoin platform supports conversions between the US dollar and three stablecoins: Pax Dollar (USDP), PayPal USD (PYUSD) and Circle’s USD Coin (USDC).
The platform is currently available in the United States, and Paxos plans to expand beyond the US dollar over time.
“Once set up, businesses can accept payments from anywhere, emphasizing the global power of this work,” a representative from Paxos told Cointelegraph.
Stripe already supports pay-ins from more than 70 countries, the spokesperson noted.
Stripe’s payment network statistics. Source: Stripe
Once a stablecoin payment is received, users can either convert the funds to fiat or send stablecoins directly to merchants.
Merchants will be able to issue refunds by converting fiat into the stablecoin originally used and sending it directly to the wallet used in the initial payment. This solution supports PYUSD and USDP via onchain transfers through the Solana and Ethereum networks, as well as USDC via Ethereum, Solana and Polygon.
Related: Stripe’s new stablecoin option gains traction in 70 countries on day 1
“This is truly enterprise-grade infrastructure for payments, where Paxos brings our regulatory-first approach to the payment capabilities needed across onboarding, custody and money movement,” Paxos said.
“Our goal is to keep adding assets and chains over time”
The stablecoin industry has expanded over the past few years, with the total market value of all stablecoins breaking $170 billion in September.
The market capitalization of all stablecoins since January 2018. Source: CoinGecko
Tether, the operator of the largest stablecoin, USDt (USDT), posted a record-breaking $5.2 billion profit in the first half of 2024, and many industry firms introduced new stablecoins and related solutions.
According to Paxos, there is no right amount of stablecoins that should exist on the market. The company’s representative said:
“Without respect to the right number, our goal is to keep adding assets and chains over time based on customers’ interests and their own end-user’s preferences.”
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