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Stripe and Twitter have teamed up to test a cryptocurrency payouts feature using the USDC stablecoin

Stripe announced on Friday that as part of a trial program using Stripe's Connect service, businesses will be able to pay users in digital currencies. Twitter is the company's initial partner, and crypto disbursements will begin with USD coin (USDC) payments. Starting today, a certain number of crypto users will be compensated in USDC if they earn money using Twitter services such as Super Follows and Ticketed Spaces.

According to Sharma's blog post, "With crypto rewards for Connect, Twitter will make it possible for creators who opt in to have their revenues paid directly to a cryptocurrency wallet." "All crypto-related complexity and operations will be handled by Stripe." Platforms can sidestep the issues of acquiring, storing, and transferring crypto by not requiring any code changes."

Stripe and Twitter are both familiar with crypto assets, with Twitter introducing crypto tipping by the end of September 2021. While Stripe claims that USDC would be the first cryptocurrency supported, USDC transfers will be processed through the Polygon network. "[Users] can opt to keep their balance on Polygon or bridge to Ethereum and swap it for a different currency," Sharma explained. "As time goes on, we want to expand support for more rails and payout currencies."

Stripe went on to say that it was excited to share this new capability with its partners. The company has released an integration guide, and anyone interested in participating in the beta test can request access. "We're thrilled about what this means and the potential for cryptocurrencies to help solve real-world problems, particularly outside of big marketplaces," Sharma writes in his blog post. "[Stripe] expects to support crypto payouts in more than 120 countries by the end of the year."

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