Fintech startup Checkout.com to start accepting stablecoin USDC in a major crypto push to take on rivals PayPal and Stripe

Less than two weeks after the collapse of Terra UST, payments giant Checkout.com announced today it will start accepting stablecoins as part of its major crypto push to take on rival payment companies PayPal and Stripe.

The Amsterdam-based unicorn fintech startup said Tuesday it is launching a feature that will allow businesses to accept and make payments in USD Coin (USDC) through a partnership with Fireblocks, a crypto-security firm. USDCis a popular stablecoin that’s pegged to the U.S. dollar. Checkout.com is trying to catch up with rival payments group Stripe, which launched a similar feature earlier this year.

According to Jess Houlgrave, Checkout.com’s head of crypto strategy, the new feature will allow merchants to settle payments even on weekends and public holidays, which is something that’s not currently available via fiat currencies. During the sidelines of the Money 20/20 fintech conference in Amsterdam, Houlgrave told CNBC that “between the time that they’ve sent the bitcoin, and the time that they receive those funds, they have a working capital constraint.”

Recently valued at $40 billion after the $1 billion January fundraise, Checkout.com is the latest in a series of major financial institutions betting big on the multi-trillion-dollar crypto space.

Founded in 2012 by Guillaume Pousaz, Checkout.com provides fintech companies with a cross-border payment solution for digital commerce. The business offers direct access to domestic acquiring across payment methods and geographies, including all major credit and debit cards, online banking, PayPal, Apple Pay, and other eWallets.

The company also added that the new fund will be used to invest in the United States market to meet the high demand and launch a new platform to ease payments within online marketplaces, the company said. Checkout.com will also use the latest capital infusion to explore more opportunities in the Web3 – a term for a utopian version of the internet that is decentralized.