How Stripe Is Building for Bitcoin & Crypto

Summary

In this insightful discussion, Stripe's executive delves into the company's approach to cryptocurrencies and their potential impact on the future of global commerce. The conversation highlights Stripe's mission to increase the internet's GDP and how cryptocurrencies, particularly stablecoins, could be a powerful tool to achieve this. The executive shares Stripe's internal perspectives on the evolving financial landscape, the importance of enabling technologies, and the potential for crypto to disrupt traditional financial models. The discussion also touches on the challenges and opportunities presented by regulatory environments and the company's commitment to fostering innovation within the crypto ecosystem.

Takeaways

• 🌐 The vastness of the internet necessitates technologies like cryptocurrencies to achieve significant scale.
• 🚀 Cryptocurrencies are seen as powerful tools to impact the broader internet, potentially becoming integral to Stripe's mission.
• 🔄 Crypto is not viewed as a direct competitor to Stripe's core business but rather as a native extension of it.
• 📈 Stripe's mission to increase the GDP of the internet aligns well with the opportunities presented by cryptocurrencies.
• 🛠️ Stripe's approach to crypto involves enabling crypto-oriented companies, providing on-ramps, and exploring stable coins for global payouts.
• 🔄 The evolution of the financial medium, like the shift from text to video in social networking, is seen in the rise of cryptocurrencies.
• 🌍 Cryptocurrencies offer a new layer of opportunity for global commerce, with potential for faster settlement times and lower fees.
• 🔧 Stripe's role in the crypto ecosystem is to act as an enablement layer, supporting various technologies within the crypto space.
• 🔄 The adoption of stable coins is seen as a positive trend, with increasing consumer and merchant use cases.
• 🔄 The future of global commerce may involve more consumer-to-consumer and consumer-to-merchant transactions facilitated by cryptocurrencies.
• 🔄 Self-custody and the regulatory environment are areas of focus for fintech companies, including Stripe, as they navigate the crypto landscape.

Q & A

How does the speaker view the role of cryptocurrencies in achieving the scale of success for the internet?

The speaker sees cryptocurrencies as one of the most powerful tools to impact the wide internet, not just the narrow internet, and believes they are native to Stripe's mission of increasing the GDP of the internet.

What is Stripe's mission according to the speaker?

Stripe's mission is to increase the GDP of the internet by providing an elegant, simple, developer-focused, and durable business through which startups and companies can interact with the often complex financial world.

How does the speaker differentiate between the traditional financial world and the crypto world?

The speaker notes that the crypto world represents a new medium shift and a layer of opportunity, which is different from the traditional financial world where changes occur less frequently.

What are the three main areas Stripe is focusing on within the crypto space?

Stripe is focusing on enabling crypto-oriented companies with core services, providing an on-ramp for deeply crypto-native organizations, and developing a global crypto payouts product using stable coins.

How does the speaker view the potential of stable coins in global commerce?

The speaker believes that stable coins can enable faster settlement times, lower fees, and increased payment inclusivity for longtail countries and currencies, providing more autonomy for individuals in managing their personal finances.

What is Stripe's approach to the crypto ecosystem?

Stripe aims to be an enablement layer across various crypto technologies, focusing on serving those building within the crypto economy in a durable, trustworthy, developer-friendly, and high-confidence manner.

How does the speaker address the potential for self-custody in the future of fintech and banking?

The speaker acknowledges the trend towards self-custody and its potential impact on user experience, regulatory compliance, and the financial stack, but notes that Stripe is currently more focused on other aspects of the crypto space.

What is the speaker's perspective on the future of asset digitization and tokenization?

While acknowledging the potential of asset digitization and tokenization, the speaker suggests that Stripe is not deeply involved in this area yet and that the regulatory environment and technical challenges are still significant.

How does the speaker view the role of AI and automation in the future of transactions and global commerce?

The speaker sees AI and automation as trends that will increase global commerce and enable microtransactions, with cryptocurrencies and stable coins being well-suited to this due to their speed and efficiency.

What are the speaker's thoughts on the potential disruption of Stripe by new technologies or market shifts?

The speaker believes that while sudden market shifts could disrupt Stripe, they see cryptocurrencies as disruptive in a positive way, providing new opportunities for growth and innovation.

How can someone learn more about crypto at Stripe or potentially join the team?

Interested individuals can visit stripe.com, search for crypto in the jobs section, or interact with the Stripe crypto page and its interest forum to request access to specific products or learn more about available positions.

Outlines

00:00

🌐 The Internet and Cryptocurrencies

The speaker discusses the vastness of the internet and the potential of cryptocurrencies to achieve significant success. They mention the possibility of regulatory challenges and alternative solutions but emphasize that, currently, crypto seems like a powerful tool to impact the internet. The conversation with John from Stripe begins, exploring the company's role in increasing internet GDP and how cryptocurrencies fit into their core business.

05:01

💡 Crypto as a Native to Stripe's Business

The discussion continues with the idea that crypto is not just an extension but a native part of Stripe's business. The evolution of social networks is compared to the financial world's adaptation to crypto. Stripe's mission to increase internet GDP and provide a simple, developer-focused business platform is seen as complementary to the opportunities presented by crypto. The speaker shares their perspective on crypto as a disruptive technology and its potential impact on various aspects of payments and financial transactions.

10:04

🚀 Stripe's Approach to Crypto Technologies

The conversation delves into Stripe's approach to crypto technologies, including Bitcoin, stablecoins, and NFTs. The company's strategy involves enabling crypto-oriented companies with core services, providing on-ramps for deeply crypto-native organizations, and developing a global crypto payouts product. The speaker highlights Stripe's role as an enablement layer across different crypto technologies and their focus on being agnostic to specific products while recognizing the upside of the technology.

15:06

🌟 The Future of Global Commerce and Crypto

The discussion focuses on the future of global commerce and how crypto technologies, particularly stablecoins, can enable faster settlement times, lower fees, and payment inclusivity. The speaker emphasizes the importance of these technologies in enabling global operators to manage their finances and interact with the global economy. The conversation also touches on the potential for crypto to become an infrastructure layer, similar to how the internet evolved.

20:07

🤝 Stripe's Role in the Crypto Ecosystem

The speaker reflects on Stripe's role as an honest broker within the crypto ecosystem, focusing on serving those building within the economy. They discuss the importance of being a durable, trustworthy, and developer-friendly platform. The conversation also explores the balance between building on community-driven technologies and creating internal products, as well as the potential for self-custody and its impact on the financial stack.

25:08

🔄 The Impact of Crypto on Stripe's Mission

The speaker considers the impact of crypto on Stripe's mission to increase the GDP of the internet. They discuss the potential for crypto to be a powerful tool for achieving this mission and the importance of staying attuned to market shifts and regulatory changes. The conversation also touches on the possibility of a future where crypto becomes essential for Stripe's success.

30:11

🏠 Tokenizing Assets and the Future of Commerce

The discussion explores the concept of tokenizing assets, such as real estate, and the potential for new use cases and challenges in the digital world. The speaker acknowledges the complexities of this area, particularly in terms of regulatory environments and the need for reliable and trustworthy on-chain transactions. They express interest in the potential changes this could bring to personal net worth and daily spending.

35:12

📢 Stripe's Commitment to Crypto

The speaker reiterates Stripe's commitment to crypto and its alignment with the company's mission. They emphasize the importance of crypto as a tool for enabling the vastness of the internet and the potential for it to become a critical part of Stripe's success. The conversation concludes with information on how to learn more about crypto at Stripe and how to apply for jobs or access Stripe's crypto products.

40:12

🗣️ Closing Remarks

The conversation concludes with the speaker expressing gratitude for the discussion and acknowledging the progress and technical capabilities of the crypto community. They also highlight the potential for companies like Stripe to accelerate the growth of the crypto ecosystem and look forward to future discussions as Stripe continues to make progress.

Keywords

💡Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies are digital or virtual currencies that use cryptography for security and operate on decentralized networks, such as blockchain. In the context of the video, cryptocurrencies are seen as a powerful tool to impact the vast scale of the internet, potentially increasing the GDP of the internet by enabling transactions and commerce on a global scale.

💡Scale of Success

The scale of success refers to the extent or magnitude of achievement, particularly in business or technological advancements. The video discusses the potential of cryptocurrencies to achieve a large scale of success by facilitating widespread internet commerce and transactions, which could be a game-changer for the financial industry.

💡Disruptive Technology

Disruptive technology is an innovation that creates a new market and value network, eventually displacing established technologies and shaking up existing markets. The video highlights cryptocurrencies as a disruptive technology that could redefine the financial landscape by offering faster, cheaper, and more inclusive payment solutions.

💡Stripe

Stripe is a technology company that provides payment processing services for online businesses. In the video, Stripe is portrayed as a company that is embracing cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology to expand its services and support the growth of the internet's GDP. Stripe's mission to increase the GDP of the internet is seen as aligning with the potential of cryptocurrencies.

💡Global Commerce

Global commerce refers to the trade and business activities that occur across international borders. The video emphasizes the role of cryptocurrencies in enabling global commerce by providing a more efficient and accessible means of payment, which could lead to increased trade and economic growth on a worldwide scale.

💡Stablecoins

Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value by being pegged to a reserve of assets, often a fiat currency like the US dollar. In the video, stablecoins are discussed as a promising development in the crypto space, offering the potential for more stable and reliable transactions, which could be particularly beneficial for global commerce and payments.

💡Self-Custody

Self-custody in the context of cryptocurrencies refers to the control and management of one's own private keys and digital assets, as opposed to entrusting them to a third party. The video touches on the trend towards self-custody and its implications for user experience and the financial ecosystem, including the potential shift in Stripe's role in facilitating transactions.

💡Tokenization

Tokenization is the process of converting rights to an asset into a digital token on a blockchain. This concept is mentioned in the video as a potential future development that could allow for the digital representation and exchange of various assets, beyond traditional currencies, which could open up new use cases and opportunities in the digital economy.

💡Regulatory Environment

The regulatory environment refers to the rules, laws, and guidelines set by governing bodies that oversee and control various sectors, including finance and technology. The video discusses the importance of the regulatory environment in shaping the adoption and development of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies, as well as its impact on the strategies and operations of companies like Stripe.

💡DeFi (Decentralized Finance)

DeFi, or decentralized finance, is a financial system built on blockchain technology that aims to remove intermediaries like banks and provide financial services directly to users. The video briefly mentions DeFi as an area where regulatory challenges are significant, highlighting the complexities involved in moving traditional financial instruments onto blockchain-based platforms.

💡GDP (Gross Domestic Product)

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a measure of the economic output of a country or region over a specific time period. In the video, the mission to increase the GDP of the internet is discussed, suggesting that the growth of online commerce and the adoption of cryptocurrencies could contribute to a broader economic impact.

Highlights

The internet's vastness and scale can be impacted by technologies like cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrencies are seen as powerful tools to achieve the scale of success for the internet.

Stripe's mission is to increase the GDP of the internet, and crypto is considered native to this mission.

Crypto is seen as an exciting medium shift and a new layer of opportunity.

Stripe's core business is not competitive with crypto but rather complementary.

Stripe had Bitcoin acceptance from 2014 to 2018 but had to sunset it due to practical reasons.

Stripe's crypto team focuses on enabling crypto-oriented companies, on-ramping, and stable coin space.

Crypto is a disruptive technology with the potential to be a medium of exchange, store of value, and unit of account.

Stripe aims to enable global commerce through faster settlement times, lower fees, and payment inclusivity.

Stripe sees itself as an enablement layer across various crypto technologies.

The future of global commerce may involve more consumer-to-consumer and consumer-to-merchant transactions.

Self-custody in digital commerce is becoming more prevalent, affecting the financial stack and user relationships.

Regulatory shifts are influencing the complexity of financial products and services in the crypto space.

Stripe is not directly involved in tokenizing assets but sees potential in the concept.

Crypto's role in Stripe's mission is seen as native and potentially essential for future success.

Stripe encourages developers to interact with their crypto products and services.

The company is always looking to hire great people and encourages those interested to visit their website.

Transcripts

the internet is vast right you know it's

it's such a it's such a a a great vision

in its in its scale you you really have

to look for Technologies like

cryptocurrencies I think to achieve that

scale of success um and it's possible

it'll be something else right it's

possible that that this crypto thing

won't pan out you know regulatory

environments will get you know too too

messy you know some some Grand solution

to Fiat shows up overnight um and that

becomes the easier path but if I'm if

I'm looking look at it practically today

I think it's that crypto is probably one

of the most powerful tools we can put in

our belt to actually impact the wide

internet not just the narrow

internet all right guys bang bang I've

got John here with me uh I thought a

great place to start is the classic

innovators dilemma stripe is a massive

business you guys are helping increase

the GDP on the internet uh you probably

do payments better than anyone else and

everyone you know in the tech industry

is like duh if I'm going to have

payments on my website of UST stripe and

then Here Comes Bitcoin and

cryptocurrencies and they're like well

we're going to do payments amazingly in

this peer-to-peer kind of electronic

fashion uh it could be competitive or

you all could use these Technologies to

further your mission and kind of you

know wrap your arms around and say hey

we want to be part of this how do you

all think internally about you know

Stripes kind of Core Business and what

you guys have been doing for years and

then also this kind of new technology

and Bitcoin and

cryptocurrencies yeah I look I think

it's easy to sort of mistake these two

things to be competitive with each other

right the the reality is that I think

crypto is native to Stripes business

right it's not I don't even think it's

an extension of it I think it's very

native to what stripe does um yeah I was

at Facebook before and this is a kind of

social network world and in that world

the evolution of the medium right inside

of which you're operating changes

consistently and so you know we had like

text based primary social networking

followed by photos followed by videos

followed by today we're sort of in this

short form video World um this happens

far less often I think in the financial

world but I think crypto is that right

crypto is this really exciting medium

shift it's this entire new like layer of

opportunity and if you look at what

stripe is if you look at stripe's

Mission right which is increasing the

GDP of the internet right and sort of

providing this like elegant and simple

developer focused durable business you

know through which startups and

companies can interact with the

oftentimes complex Financial world right

I think these things are are are you

know perfect friends inside of that

space and so I think that it's it's not

surprising to me at all when you kind of

look at it through that lens that you

know we're digging deeper into this

space and that we have a team operating

and building products and trying to

enable crypto as opposed to sort of

taking the opposite stance right which

would be trying to resist it and you

know maybe not speaking about it and and

and and not kind of trying to build in

that direction so you know I think

crypto is a disruptive technology I

think that's one of the things that's

really exciting about it um I think it's

easy to make the mistake with a

disruptive technology that it sort of

can be camouflaged as like one or two

solutions because whatever lens you look

at a disruptive technology through it'll

look like it is that right and I think

when you look at it that way sort of as

these kind of Point items you might make

the mistake of saying oh you know in

this one area in payments it's

competitive with stripe or otherwise but

if you zoom out and you say no this is a

medium this is a layer kind of for like

Financial enablement right then I think

it becomes very natural that like this

is an opportunity stripe and that these

two techn that this technology and this

company like should be very close to

each other not far apart now when we

think about stripe kind of entering into

a space here there's different

components of crypto right there's

Bitcoin there's stable coins there's

like a whole long taale of uh very uh

speculative type uh engagements there's

nfts you know you can kind of go all the

way across this entire industry how do

you all think about maybe buckets of

like okay we think that there's really

really high you know fit between stripes

Mission and like these Technologies and

then we're kind of exploring some of

these other things uh in bucket two and

then maybe there's even a bucket three

of okay we know for sure we're not going

to do anything in that area or we don't

think that that's really got value to to

what our mission is so how do you kind

of think about maybe what those buckets

are and then like putting things in the

bucket so that you can prioritize

internally what to work

on I think we try to think about

ourselves as an enablement layer across

these various different technologies

that are coming out of kind of the macro

technology that is that is crypto um you

know if you look at the history of

stripe a little bit and its

participation there was a period of time

from about 2014 to 2018 where stripe

actually had Bitcoin acceptance um and

you know looking back when that was

ultimately Sunset when the blog post was

written about it right it was it was

turned off for very practical reasons

right was a Bitcoin was was very young

at the time um settlement times were

were taking too long fees were going up

it wasn't really being used as a

transactional currency um you that might

be changing a little bit today but also

Al what happened between sort of 2018

and today are all of these other kind of

Evolutions in opportunities for

companies to participate and utilize

this layer of cryptocurrencies and this

is where we've seen like nfts we've seen

sort of the Ico run we've seen uh

utility capabilities you know now we're

starting to see stable coins and I think

that stripe has a bit of a opportunity

across each of them and you can see it

in the product catalog that we've got

today so we we sort of have three major

remits within the crypto team here one

is enabling uh crypto oriented companies

with stripe core services so if you're

an exchange um you know if you're crypto

oriented and and selling nfts you might

still want to do traditional finance

things like take accept a credit card

and that's not a given to be able to do

it just like in 2011 it wasn't a given

to be able to do it as a web two company

and so that part of our business is very

much kind of a perfect metaphor analog

to what strip was doing in 2011 that it

needs to do today for crypto businesses

we also have a part of the business that

is um the on-ramp and the on-ramp is

much more focused on deeply crypto

native or organizations so if your

business itself probably runs on a smart

contract you know is utilizing some new

capability of blockchain to enable uh

new use cases for your consumers the

on-ramp kind of bridges that Gap so that

users who come to you and are interested

in participating in your smart contract

or otherwise can jump from the world

they're accustomed to which is Fiat over

to this world that is crypto and the

onramp is is multi-coin multi Network so

depending on what you're doing if it's

if it's Bitcoin ethereum you know a

layer two all of those are enabled um

and then the third which is is sort of

future looking and has to do with the

stable coin space is a global crypto

payouts product which is if you're

participating in stripe connect and

you're running a Marketplace or

something similar um your recipients of

payouts should have that choice to be

paid out in this new stable coin system

as opposed to having to be paid out in

their local currency so it's just like a

long way of saying like we participate

in all of these areas and we try to be

agnostic

to kind of the specific products being

built on the technology while

recognizing sort of The Upside so our

remit shifts over time in terms of like

what the products support and who the

products are supporting but the

underlying uh goal of the organization

here which is to kind of enable

companies that are participating in this

new economy doesn't change so what's

interesting about these Technologies is

there's a lot of promises some of them

seem to be coming to fruition some of

them not so much um and if I had to

characterize them maybe there's like a

store value type AR argument uh for a

Bitcoin or or some of these assets

there's definitely a medium of exchange

and if you kind of extend that out into

applications there's like remittances

there is you know a reduction of fees

there maybe even is a increase in speed

um kind of along that side and then

there is like pricing or unit of account

and so talk maybe a little bit store

value is pretty self-explanatory I don't

know if you've got anything to add there

but when it comes to medium of exchange

like what are you all seeing in terms of

what the technolog is allowing you to do

that maybe you otherwise could putting

are you doing you know like instant

payouts are you doing you know yeah hey

we can lower our fee because now our our

cost structure is different or something

and then also unit of account like

should we expect stripe to eventually

offer uh you can price things in Bitcoin

or or your favorite asset rather than

just Fiat

currencies yeah I think across all of

those things it's really the enablement

of global Commerce that's the most

interesting and that kind of speaks to

the medium of exchange when you look at

you know Global Commerce today you know

within the United States especially we

have this sort of um privileged position

right of feeling like our interactions

are all already instant right we we

swipe a credit card we tap a credit card

we type in a credit card um you know we

have this kind of instant feeling of of

completing the transaction um there's an

entire world out there that does not

have that especially when dealing with a

crossb type transaction and so the

payouts product sort of speaks to this

which is we should see advantages here

across all of those different dimensions

that you listed so we should see faster

settlement times and we do see faster

settlement times we should see lower

fees and more importantly I think

actually than both of those is we should

see kind of this payment inclusivity for

these like longtail countries and

longtail currencies and um individuals

that are Global operators uh to be able

to be paid out in global type currencies

as opposed to local currencies and that

gives them more autonomy in terms of how

they want to manage their personal

finances and then how they can reinter

with that global economy and I think we

think about this a little bit as a

flywheel right so it's it's it's about

receiving those stable coins then being

able to you know ultimately do things

with them conceivably the reason you

want them might be for that stored value

reason you might have you know a local

currency that's that's volatile and so

you'd rather hold something that feels a

little bit more stable right but it

could also be for for further Commerce

or for further um you know smart chain

interaction with other web three

organizations and in that world where

you're not actually having to

consistently onramp and off-ramp right

you really start to see those upsides

right those upsides of time to

settlement of uh you know transaction um

cost and speed and all of those things

and we're seeing that in the networks as

well right the better networks are

coming out the faster networks that

we're able to push these stable coins

over so I think again it's it's kind of

all of them but sort of in the order of

like medium of of exchange followed by

stored balance like in my mind at least

now let's say that uh the technology

continues to be improved uh both

internally and externally how do you all

look at your role in kind of the

contribution to the ecosystem and

sometimes uh I I you know feel like the

crypto industry does a fantastic job of

understanding free market principles and

incentives and and really kind of

applying those and and showing this is

how that can work and then other times

we're horrible at it and we take like

this like moral High ground or we're

like theoretically this is how it should

work we try to kind of build things to

to that so how do you all think like

you're a for-profit business uh you are

technologist you're you're building

products for consumers uh and customers

but also then there's like kind of Open

Source there is uh these products that

you may contribute to but other people

can then use and so just talk a little

bit as to like your role in the

ecosystem specifically around building

products and how much of it is like

building on top of things that are being

built by the community versus you all

are trying to create things internally

and then like push them out to the

community yeah when I think about our

positioning in the market in general I I

think about stripe as the honest broker

you know within crypto um I I don't I

don't really see us as an evangelist you

know our our role here is to ser Ser

those people who are building inside of

this economy already and to serve them

in a way that's durable trustworthy

developer friendly and high confidence

that's that's that's first and foremost

the role of stripe across I think web 2

as well but then extending that out to

web 3 developers and so this is kind of

maps back to this this same question

again around you know this world is

changing rapidly it's been changing

since you know 2008 or so when when when

this all began um and I don't think

strip's role has changed I just think

we've evolved evolved a little bit from

recognizing from from sort of taking a

singular position of okay this is this

is all about just payments right into a

more expanded position of we need to

lift this uh industry wherever we can

because being a financial medium there

are more and more sort of touch points

that the founders and creators who are

beginning to exploit New Opportunities

right need to be able to interact with

it's not just the payments layer right

it might be the on-ramp layer it might

be the payouts layer um and frankly

stripe is just a more mature business

today as well you know I was um I was in

y combinator in in 2011 I actually have

one of the first couple hundred uh

stripe accounts ever issued and just

before this I I was digging up like the

original email that I got from John

Collison you know inviting me to join

stripe and it's just such an honest

statement of what stripe was trying to

do you know it was saying like this is a

simple easy to use developer focused way

to take credit cards and and it's such a

simple statement right but it's really

has these these powerful impacts to all

of these little startups that the time

that we're just trying to participate in

Commerce and I think the role is the

same I think the role today is similar

and we will continue to build out the

products that enable these organizations

to grow so that they can have a

continually improving Merchant and

consumer experience and that's that's

ultimately our job we talk a lot about

you know where is crypto today right and

we say it's the dialup age right and

that's an easy way I think for a lot of

people to say it's the beginning but if

you look at the history of the internet

right like the first arpanet contracts

were in 1969 right like dialup was

pretty far in right we were we were we

were a long way we were past TCP IP we

were past like packet design we were

like into worldwide web by then and so I

think it's kind of a cool phrasing if

you think about it that way is we're

just in that era where the translation

layer between web two and web 3 is still

difficult right you're still telling

your mom to hang up the phone before you

hit the dial button right we're we're

there and so strip's role is to hold

that torch High make it as easy as

possible to to participate in this

economy help the consumers get on board

to enable the merchants and then grow

with the merchants which I think is when

we start talking about things like

stable coins and Global commerce grow

with them as they start to kind of reach

their second order and third order uh

goals it's funny that you mentioned the

like hang up the phone because I need to

use the internet uh I recently was

talking with someone and uh uh somebody

we work with is I think 21 or 22 years

old and this came up and he said wait

what and I had to explain to him the

like AOL you know a you're trying to do

something but the phone and your parents

are telling to get off and he was

shocked he was like wait that really was

a thing and I was like everybody over

the age of I don't know maybe 30 35

years old like that is a shared

experience that we all had as the

internet rolled out and I do wonder what

are the shared experiences that we will

all talk about you know 20 years from

now when it came to these Technologies

and the uiux seems horrendous uh but

stripe is historically known for making

beautiful things you see this in you

know the the kind of core product you

see this in things like stripe press and

and just many of the things that I think

the company is known for and so how do

you all think about that where like the

technology seems to work and there's

this like underbelly of the mechanics

are there but the uiux may not be that

great and so is that something that you

all can kind of reskin for the stripe

experience or are you kind of stuck with

hey whatever the the community has done

so far we got to kind of take it in the

form that it is for sure so so so first

of all just just on that like General

topic like I think you we went through

this with the iPhone too right like skew

morphism is this like really important

thing that you have to have but you only

need it until the folks who grew up

natively around the thing have grown up

and suddenly the skorm kind of falls

apart right you don't need like a disc

anymore to click the save button and I

do I do I do think crypto will go

through the same thing like today we

have to talk about it in sort of these

like old-fashioned terms almost to help

make crypto clear to people but in the

future it you know it'll just be you

know an infrastructure layer um on on

the other question though around like

uiux like one of the advantages of

stripe being a little bit more mature

when we're coming into this space is

it's not just the one product anymore

like the collection of stripe products

actually give us the ability to make

uiux more improved so um stripe has a

has a product called link right which is

basically a system for uh making

payments more efficient if you've

interacted with stripe before so if

you've come in and you've bought

something from a stripe Merchant web to

you know maybe you bought a t-shirt

somewhere and you saved your credit card

and you saved your profile information

and then one day go to a merchant in web

3 and you hit the stripe onramp we're

going to remember you and we're going to

say oh hi John it's you again great we

remember you like we've already got your

credit card don't worry you don't need

to type it in again like let's just

verify who you are and let's get you

into crypto and it helps like lower this

barrier right in instead of every part

of the crypto experience feeling like

you're having to interact with new

vendors and new companies and

potentially people you've never heard of

you get this one probably the most

frightening part right for for a

consumer which is the moment where

you're interacting with the Fiat world

and translating it over to the crypto

world and you get this familiarity that

comes through in the link integration um

and then you know behind the scenes

there's there's sort of stripe enabled

kyc and radar and and other really like

powerful fraud tools but I think that's

really important right it's really

important to show up somewhere and see

that familiarity even if the experience

you're going through is new and novel um

and so I that's that's kind of one of

the core things we have to lean on the

other side of of course is that stripe

just has it deeply in its culture to

build very strong and very successful um

ux experiences you know I think back in

I referenced 2011 all the time but back

when we were first using 2011 uh in my

startup with stripe what was amazing was

it felt consumer grade you know as a as

a as a business user so you would log in

and this this dashboard didn't feel like

you were logging into a program right it

felt like you were logging into a

consumer program it was all very clean

very welld designed very well built the

documentation was really clear um and I

think like carrying that over to

developers is just as important as

carrying it over to Consumers so while

consumers get this kind of improved

experience with familiarity through

Integrations with things like link the

developers also get that they also get

like this very clear experience where

they can then deliver to Consumers kind

of the highest quality experience where

they can make sure that things like

fraud rates are low and and acceptance

rates are high right which is part of

what makes something feel good like you

have to think you know ux versus UI

right the entirety of that user

experience needs to feel clean and

comfortable um you know efficient

durable and trustworthy and so all of

those kind of come together and we can

take those learnings from you know a

decade plus of doing this in web 2 and

translate them very directly and I think

that comes through on the onramp if you

look at things like acceptance rates you

know in in the market and it certainly

comes through for things like crypto

payouts where you know you're

interacting with connect and you just

have a new payout method um all of those

things should be like like the core like

high quality stripe experience so one of

the ideas I'm probably most excited

about is the convergence of a lot of

these Technologies and obviously there's

a ton of excitement right now for

artificial intelligence even Robotics

and and machines but I kind of think of

it all as it's like automation right

like we're just moving more towards this

like automated Society regardless of the

underlying Technologies and so uh in

that form uh it's very hard for

quotequote machines whether it's actual

software or machines to conduct

transactions with money that takes one

or two days to settle

and so one of the promises of stable

coins as an example is that you can have

very quick efficient and lowcost

transactions and so now there are things

like streaming payments we've seen

people do this with Bitcoin we've seen

them do it with stable coins um but it

almost feels like that is where the

market is really going to pull these

Technologies into uh existence outside

of just the insular crypto Community are

you all seeing that and how do you think

about you know uh places where maybe you

want to provide services to stripe

customers but the Legacy Financial

system not Stripes products but the

Legacy Financial system limit your

ability to do that and so you you guys

are forced to use the new technologies

really as a way to serve your customer

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think there's there's like two Trends

there and and AI you know fits into one

of them and maybe both over the long

term right Trend number one is kind of

the increase in global Commerce versus

domestic Commerce and sort of the

opportunities that that arrive there

with a more efficient transaction layer

and I think in the in the AI space you

sort of have this this this other side

which is what you're talking about a

little bit which is how do you map these

transactions into code in such a way

where they're fully settled right and

and and in the case where like

irreversibility of crypto actually

becomes an advantage

um I think there's another angle on that

AI piece which is that you know how do

you make finance and transactions native

to the code that's being written right I

mean there's there's an HTTP code out

there right code 402 which is payment

required which is not used anywhere on

the internet but is like sort of s

should be this core basic capability I

think of the internet and I you know

when we one of one of the examples I

didn't get a chance to give but but is

probably relevant here is you look at

our Integrations with things like like

ramp and two of the things we try to do

there are increase availability right so

availability in in more difficult

regulatory environments like New York um

but also decrease uh minimums so

decrease kind of that lower limit and

when you think about something like AI

right you're probably starting to think

a lot about microtransactions right like

smaller and smaller transactions

happening faster and faster and

happening like in very very tiny tiny

ways like maybe we're even looking at

like token level right like cost

transactions um and cryp currency

especially stable coins feel like

they're very well suited to this problem

but only right only if you can also

handle like small and minimum level Fiat

transactions into it so that the barrier

for someone to participate is low enough

right if if our barrier to interact with

you know anything in the

microtransaction world is like hundreds

of dollars like that's the minimum to go

on on-ramp as a user and then have an AI

agent take over it's too high but I

think if we can keep pushing that down I

think there's there's huge opportunities

um and then if we think about kind of

the global environment uh you know we

look a little bit more I think in that

world at speed um of transaction and

settlement uh in that it's reasonably

unacceptable when you're trying to

operate in an automated fashion as an AI

or otherwise to have a multi-day

settlement period um and it's really

funny because inside of crypto right we

sort of hem and haw about minutes versus

versus like 10 minutes versus hours and

we say oh this this chain is no good it

takes hours right and then on the other

side of the fence you have this you know

entire Global world that operates on on

the order of days um and and and that

translation layer there I think is

something we have to lean really deeply

into right and I think if you enable

both of those and you think that

ultimately you know they come together

you know in terms of like AI automated

payments microtransactions and Global

Commerce the the sort of imagination

that creators in this space who are

building towards it have I think is is

beyond something that I can personally

imagine but is definitely something that

I want to enable and we understand those

Primitives right of speed cost

availability as being the things that we

need to succeed in as a company like St

so when I think about uh maybe where we

are today and and measuring uh the

current uh usage of these Technologies

on one hand it's like total amount of

transactions in the world uh Visa does

15 trillion stable coins all combined

did 15 trillion but still the like

non-stable coin transaction volume is

off the charts compared to stable coins

my expectation would be that will over

time become a much bigger number

aggregate but also percentage wise uh I

would love to hear kind of how you all

think about that and if that's changing

anything internally but also I think

maybe a a onea to that analysis is right

now Fiat currencies are like

99.9% of all transactions globally and

quotequote digital currencies or like

native digital currencies like a Bitcoin

are you know not even really registering

yet um I think that that number also as

a percentage and aggregate will get

bigger over time as well and so how do

you think about you know stable coins

which are just like a different form

factor for the Fiat currencies but then

also like these digital native

currencies that have nothing to do with

the Fiat currencies is it just up and to

the right in terms of adoption and usage

for both of those and is that changing

anything internally for you guys I think

it is up and to the right but I actually

think the depth of those charts is what

gets more interesting so there was a

report released pretty recently on sort

of the Relentless rise of stable coins

that had a bunch of different charts

inside of it showing kind of the

breakdown of like what stable coins were

being used where they were being

distributed to um and and there was a

subchart inside of there that actually

didn't get that much attention but I

thought was probably the most

interesting chart that broke down kind

of um the value of the transactions

happening so each section right let's

say like transactions happening at over

$100 in the transaction you know over $

thousand dollar and there's there's this

shift that's happening which is two or

three years ago the number of

transactions happening between like one

and $25 was was you couldn't even see it

right it was like this tiny little line

right but over the last year or so it

started to kind of expand it started to

grow and that layer like that layer

looks like consumer activity right that

layer looks like you know walking

somewhere and and buying something for

$10 buying something for $12 you know

buying maybe a SAS service buying a you

know a cup of coffee right and that

piece of the chart is growing and I

think like I think those are the types

of early signals really excit

when we sort of look at them as an

organization trying to enable Commerce

because if all that it is is block

trades right if all that it is is moving

you know a million dollars this way or

tens of millions of dollars that way um

I think that's pretty interesting but I

don't know that that actually like

impacts kind of the the consumer level

of gr Global Commerce in in a way that's

exciting you know for for a company like

strike to enable but as we see that

start to expand and we see like what

looks more like Merchant consumer type

Commerce and we start to see you know

individual countries beginning to adopt

these things almost domestically in

really interesting ways like um you know

like in in India and in like Nigeria

where we're just seeing like stable coin

usage becoming almost native to the uh

to the geography um I think those two

things combined lets you kind of pull

out a little bit and say all right this

trend isn't just your reflection of

what's already been happening right this

is actually new information new types of

Commerce new types of transactions that

are happening and that actually implies

that sort of the future there of global

Commerce is potentially tied into more

consumer to Consumer consumer to

Merchant type transactions and if that's

the case right that's payments right

that's payouts that's like on ramping

and smart contract uh conversion with

average individuals and I think like

that's the piece of the chart that

excites me the most when I look at it um

despite the fact that certainly you know

the up and to the right macr chart is

exciting dayto day but I think it's

important that that kind of consumer use

case continues to grow in order to kind

of justify the continued um investment

in this space by the most creative and

interesting startups who ultimately are

the people that we want to enable with

stripe crypto products so what's

interesting to me is like crypto at

stripe almost feels like uh uh the

executive team saying like hey let's

make sure we don't get disrupted by this

thing and like let's play a part in the

future of this because this technology

that we think it's valuable and we could

use to help service our customers how do

you think about what could disrupt

whether it's crypto at stripee or stripe

in general like are there certain things

in the market where you're like wow if

we don't Embrace these things like they

100% could disrupt stripe yeah I mean I

think we could see sudden shifts in the

market um you know step functions in in

in in sort of adoption that could cause

us to kind of change our paths very

quickly if we needed to right and I and

I think like stable coins are actually a

great example of this right I mean this

is stable coins are new it's not that

they're A New Concept but it's new that

they're starting to kind of gain

consumer and Merchant use in a way that

it's like exciting and interesting for

us to build against and and and sort of

payout starts to capture that right um

and I think like those types of

changes are things that we have to keep

our ears very perked about and that we

have to stay very deep in the community

to monitor I don't you know I sort of

reject the general statement that you

know we we we build the crypto team as

like a protection against disruption

right I think cryp currencies are

disruptive against like Global Financial

markets in positive ways and I think

stripe is a service provider within the

Global Financial Market benefits from

disruption of any sort because it gives

us new opportunities to build so I I I

very rarely sort of you know sit up in

bed and worry about you know the next

big thing that's coming that's going to

take us out right I think a lot more

about what is the like practical

activity that's happening in the world

that isn't maybe as enabled as we'd like

it to be and I think um I think that

really does look more and more like you

know globalization Global access to

these things Global Commerce um and

increasingly you know in the stable coin

space when you see some of the other

payment providers you know the Visas the

MasterCards they're starting to play in

some of these spaces um and everyone's

taking a different approach is there

anything that you see across the board

everyone doing that you're like pretty

much at this point if you're a fintech

or maybe even a large Bank

there's like a consensus around this is

going to be a thing or something that

you're going to have to do and what is

interesting to me is like if you think

about social networks over the long run

uh many of them realize like hey we need

a Newsfeed like the newsfeed was this

like very Innovative thing although

today we're all like of course every you

know social network has this uh and then

it became widespread and it's unclear to

me yet if the market outside of crypto

has come to a consensus in terms of like

Services they offer or or specific

products that they're going to offer

outside of just like oh we're going to

let stable coins go across our system

right are there other things that you

see consensus being arrived at so

far I I see less consensus I see a lot

of speculation um you know I think I see

a lot of guessing one one of the areas I

think that's that's been out there for a

long time that just becomes more of a

point of conversation sort of across you

know the networks and and and folks like

stripe you know has to do with kind of

like wallets right and and the the

custody versus self- custody convers

which is um you know historically it was

it was extremely difficult to do kind of

self- custody in any sort of of Commerce

transaction that was happening digitally

um but now with with crypto it's it's

it's almost the default right if you

look at an integration with with with

like a wallet like metamask right where

where we have an on-ramp integration

right that's all self- custody um and I

think that that piece of it is pretty

important to keep an eye on and

understand as we go forward because an

understanding of like who ultimately is

going to be holding the coins and

issuing the transaction calls is pretty

critical to defining the followon steps

right okay then then like who is is is

the financial stack that it's processing

through right is it still credit card

networks that are involved or are we

doing direct peer-to peer um you know is

Stripes role shifting in those cases is

it having more to do with um you know

identity and radar and Link and memory

and and on- ramping you know or is it

actually having to do with like custody

transaction and I don't have perfect

answers to these things I actually think

that the questions are getting more

complicated they're primarily being

influenced by regulatory shifts um you

know which we need to operate really

successfully within

so sorry it's a bit of an anti like poor

answer to the question of like is there

consensus coming in on this I think I'm

seeing more self- custody these days and

I think that that's the trend that we're

moving towards and I think in a self-

custodi world everyone's relationship

with the the with the user shifts a

little bit in what is probably a

positive way but if you want to look at

kind of like where Ripple effects happen

right that affects everyone that affects

stripe that affects the uh the credit

card networks that affects the banks

right that has a really interesting

ripple effect so I think that's one of

the areas that's being watched the most

closely um both from a ux standpoint you

know what's the best way to do this from

a user experience is it better to hold

your own coins or is it better to have

someone else hold them and where does

that line get drawn and then separately

the regulatory uh question marks which

are does the way the product interacts

uh or sorry does the way that the

consumer with the merchant have to

significantly change depending on

whether or not it's a self- custody

solution and we have we're generally

shielded as consumers I think in the

Bitcoin world of that question

historically because we don't live in a

self- custody world when it comes to

digital Commerce today but I think that

is probably changing and as that changes

I think it's something that there will

be a lot of consistency around in terms

of being one of the more important

conversations to have or how do we all

enable that in the best way if we're not

actually maybe directly holding the

funds how do you think about um this

idea of like digitizing or tokenizing

assets that now can be spendable so you

know I can't spend my house right it's

uh uh I have ownership of it I can prove

that I have ownership but I can't like

fractionalize the home uh maybe I could

securitize it and yeah there's trading

of it and and things like that but in

this Digital World now all of a sudden

like you can pretty much have a digital

asset that could be a whole host of

different things that aren't just a true

currency and I can swap them and so it

kind of opens up what potentially is

like oh here we go like the crypto

people are going to be insane and create

you know like recreate all the problems

that the financial system already solved

you know uh many decades ago or oh here

come a bunch of new use cases that do

become pretty interesting and so have

you all explored that how have you

thought about there are transactions it

may not be with a currency it could be

with like a different type of asset in

this digital format and and does that

change anything about how you guys see

the future

evolving yeah we don't really

participate too much in that side of the

equation today um and I think I think

we're probably a little ways off from

where we would um I think there's

something really fascinating happening

there in terms of you know what is the

backing entity for the liquidity that

any individual has um you know we we we

look at a world of of things like

mortgages and otherwise where're we're

all sort of living under under this bit

of a shadow

right of a large purchase that we've

made and that's kind of we're powering

our day-to-day purchases on the backs of

that purchase because we're paying off a

large loan I think there's a lot of

really interesting depth there um it's

not really the role of stripe I think

today um you know we're kind of getting

a little bit deeper into like

traditional banking roles there um and I

and I I also think like the regulatory

environment there is probably incredibly

comp complicated um you know we see this

in sort of the the dawn of of Defi and

and and kind of a lot of the difficulty

that there is there in terms of can you

actually move this stuff on chain in a

way that is is reliable and trustworthy

is there an equivalent of of sort of the

Town Hall that holds all these records

and can issue out you know proof of

ownership accurately um you know and in

a safe and durable way so I I don't have

too much to say kind of into that into

that space I think I think it's pretty

fascinating I think it'll probably

change a lot about how people you know

think about their their personal you

know net worth and their sort of

day-to-day spending um but you know I

think I think stripe lives a little bit

not a different layer of the stack than

kind of that that piece of interaction

at least on the crypto side Stripes uh

notorious for their mission being to

increase the GDP of the internet um how

much of the future of success of that

mission can crypto really help right and

I think there's a whole bunch of

different ways but is this something

where you all look at it as uh we will

not be successful without crypto is it

something where we will be successful

with or without crypto but crypto helps

us get there faster like how do you kind

of characterize crypto's participation

in this you know commendable mission

that you guys are taking

on yeah I I I often think about about

this mission statement you know sort of

in the in the terms of the internet is

vast right you know it's it's such a

it's such a a a great vision and it's in

its scale um in that you you really have

to look for Technologies like

cryptocurrencies I think to achieve that

scale of success um and it's possible

it'll be something else right it's

possible that that this crypto thing

won't pan out you know regulatory

environments will get you know too too

messy you know some some Grand solution

to Fiat shows up overnight um and that

becomes the easier path but if I'm if

I'm looking at it practically today I

think it's that crypto is probably one

of the most powerful tools we can put in

our belt to actually impact the wide

internet not just the narrow internet

right we think about the internet we can

think about you know when I say the

internet today talk about sort of

generation right if you're if you're

like 40 or over you probably have a very

different like mental model of the

internet than you know if you're if

you're maybe in your teens today you

might be thinking about five six

websites or apps you know versus you

know hundreds and and millions but one

of the great views we get into the

internet you know being a a processor

like stripe is we can actually see that

vastness right sort of that depth and

all of these like longtail tiny

Merchants that are just starting you

know that are transacting with small

communities that they have access to and

I think more of that right I think like

the the a little bit of the tail wags

the dog here right the longer that tail

stretches out the more interesting it

becomes and I think crypto becomes the

tool that really enables

that uh those parts of the internet to

succeed and so I think it is I think

it's native to the mission I think is is

sort of what I'm getting at I don't I

don't I don't think I would I would be

so bold as to say stripe doesn't work

without crypto I don't think we're

nearly far enough along in the pathway

but I think that there is potentially a

future where that's the case where where

can we send people to find out more

about crypto at stripe uh if they want

to apply for a job I'm assuming you guys

are always looking to hire great people

um and if they want to potentially

become a user of various products where

would you send them yes so you can

always hit stripe.com which is sort of

the like core uh core center point of

everything that stripe does there's a

link to the jobs page in there actually

if you just use search and search for

crypto you'll find all the different

documentations on crypto and the

different products that we have um

there's a lot of depth there I'd

encourage you know any developer who's

interacting with stripe to interact with

stripe crypto the same way that they

would um and through there there's an

interest Forum inside of the stripe

crypto page itself um that actually lets

you request access to specific products

that are either in beta uh or give you

instructions to come on board

immediately awesome John I appreciate it

very much it was great talking with you

uh I learned a lot and I think that

having a company like stripe put so much

time energy and frankly enthusiasm into

this speaks one to the progress and and

kind of technical you know ability of

the crypto community and what what's

been built so far but also two is uh the

accelerant that a company like you all

can put onto it uh is exciting and I

think that it's kind of a one plus one

equals more than two scenarios so uh

thank you for all the hard work and I

hope to do this again in the future as

you guys continue to make more progress

great thank you