Original article by: 100y.eth , Research Director at Four Pillars
Original translation: Luffy, Foresight News
Key Takeaways
Rumors are circulating in the cryptocurrency community that Stripe may launch its own L1 network. Considering the recent acquisitions of Bridge and Privy, launching its own blockchain may be a logical next step.
Stripe is a leading global payment service provider (PSP), playing a key role in connecting merchants, acquirers, card networks and issuing banks at the technical level to ensure smooth and secure transactions.
If Stripe does launch the L1 network, the basic expectation is to support the use of stablecoins and integrate Stripe L1 into customer payments and merchant settlements. In the optimistic case, it may completely change the payment system, enabling the following functions: 1) direct payments that bypass card issuers and networks; 2) enabling micro-flow subscriptions that were previously unattainable in traditional systems; and 3) generating income using short-term deposit balances held on the Stripe L1 platform.
While Stripe currently acts primarily as a payment gateway and acquirer, the potential Stripe L1 will enable the company to assume roles traditionally held by issuing banks and card networks. This would mark a major milestone in the history of the payments industry.
1. Will Stripe really launch L1?
Image content translation: There are rumors that they (Stripe) will launch L1 instead of following Robinhoods lead and launching L2. It has not been officially confirmed yet, but I have learned about it from multiple sources. Source: Twitter user @ayyyeandy
Rumor has it that Stripe, the global payment infrastructure company, will be the next large fintech company to launch its own chain; another rumor stems from Paradigms recent secret recruitment for a portfolio project, which some speculate is Stripe L1.
No one except insiders can be sure whether Stripe will launch L1. However, given the recent surge in interest in the blockchain and stablecoin industries in the traditional U.S. financial community, the increasing blockchain integration of credit card networks such as Visa and Mastercard, and Robinhood’s announcement of plans to tokenize stocks through Arbitrum, the rumors about Stripe launching L1 are enough to attract community attention.
Stripes mission is to increase the GDP of the Internet. The company is committed to building global economic infrastructure to help businesses of all sizes (from startups to large enterprises) manage online payments, operations, and growth. From this perspective, blockchain is an extremely attractive technology for Stripe.
In fact, Stripe has been actively expanding its blockchain-related businesses. In February 2025, Stripe acquired the stablecoin infrastructure company Bridge for approximately US$1.1 billion, strategically strengthening its position in the field of stablecoin-based financial infrastructure. On this basis, Stripe launched the Stablecoin Financial Account service at the Stripe Sessions event in May 2025.
Available in 101 countries worldwide, the service enables businesses to:
Hold USDC issued by Circle and USDB issued by Bridge
Deposit and withdraw stablecoins via ACH for USD and SEPA for EUR
Deposit and withdraw USDC on blockchains including Arbitrum, Avalanche C-Chain, Base, Ethereum, Optimism, Polygon, Solana, and Stellar
This means that businesses in 101 countries can easily obtain US dollar stablecoins through Stripe and seamlessly integrate with traditional banking systems to facilitate US dollar deposits, withdrawals and payments.
In addition, in June 2025, Stripe acquired Privy, a Web3 wallet infrastructure startup that provides features such as wallet creation via email or single sign-on (SSO), transaction signing, key management, and gas abstraction.
Based on these actions, the rumors that Stripe may launch L1 to expand its blockchain business are not groundless. In other words, Stripe already has stablecoin infrastructure and wallet infrastructure, so launching a blockchain network that can create synergies with them may be the next logical step.
2. What happens if Stripe launches an L1 network?
Of course, there is no confirmation on whether Stripe will launch an L1 platform, and it is only a rumor at present. However, we can speculate how Stripe might apply its L1 platform if it does launch it, and what services it can achieve that were previously impossible. The following ideas are purely personal imagination, so don’t take them too seriously. Just think of them as inspiration for the idea that “blockchain can be used in payment services in this way.”
2.1 Stripe’s role as a payment service provider
To understand what improvements blockchain can bring, you first need to understand the types of services Stripe provides. Stripe is the most well-known PSP (payment service provider). PSP acts as a technical bridge between merchants, acquirers, card networks, and issuing banks to ensure smooth and secure payments. Specifically, Stripe plays the following roles:
Payment Gateway: When a customer makes a card payment online or offline, Stripe securely collects the card information, encrypts it, and transmits it to the card networks and issuing banks.
Supports multiple payment methods: It integrates various payment options including credit cards, digital wallets, bank transfers, and local payment methods for customers and merchants to use.
Fraud Detection and Security: It uses machine learning-based fraud detection and security standards such as PCI-DSS compliance to prevent fraudulent transactions.
Multi-currency and international payment support: Facilitate international sales with automatic currency conversion.
Reporting and analytics: It provides merchants with detailed insights into transaction history, success rates, and customer behavior to help optimize business operations.
Technical integration and operational support: Helps businesses easily build payment systems through APIs and SDKs, and handles operational matters such as customer support, compliance, refunds, and billing.
Improved customer experience: Provides a fast and smooth payment process, supporting multiple scenarios such as subscription billing, installment payments, and refunds.
Merchant Settlement Intermediary: The PSP works with an acquirer or acts as an acquirer itself to settle the funds received by the issuing bank to the merchant.
Without a payment service provider today, merchants would have to support a variety of payment methods on their own and go through the complex process of signing up directly with acquirers, which would severely impact the experience for both merchants and customers.
2.2 What changes can Stripe L1 bring?
If Stripe does launch an L1 platform, how will it improve existing services? What new features will it bring? I have the following ideas:
2.2.1 Benchmark Case
Integration of Merchant Stablecoin Financial Accounts with Stripe L1
Stripe currently provides stablecoin financial accounts to merchants in 101 countries, enabling them to hold USDC and USDB stablecoins and deposit or withdraw them through traditional banking systems (ACH, SEPA, etc.) and various blockchain networks.
If Stripe L1 is officially launched, it is expected that the stablecoin financial account service will also support deposits and withdrawals through Stripe L1. In addition, merchants can also use the stablecoins they hold on Stripe L1 for various financial activities.
Stablecoin settlement options for merchants
As a payment service provider, Stripe can work with acquirers or settle merchants’ sales revenue on its own. If Stripe L1 goes live, merchants may be able to choose to use dollar-based stablecoins for settlement. This is undoubtedly a big benefit for merchants who have a strong demand for dollars but limited access to them.
Provide wallet services to customers
Privy, acquired by Stripe, provides infrastructure that makes it easy for users to create and use wallets. Although Stripe mainly serves merchants and businesses and has not yet provided wallet services to individual users, if Stripe L1 uses Privys infrastructure, it can help individual users easily create Web3 wallets on Stripe L1, use stablecoins for payments, and participate in various financial activities in the Stripe L1 ecosystem.
Providing stablecoin payment options to customers
Currently, customers who make online payments through Stripe are limited to bank cards, bank accounts, and other conventional payment methods. If Stripe L1 is officially launched, it may allow users to link Web3 wallets (possibly provided by Stripe or a third party) and choose stablecoins as a payment method.
2.2.2 Optimistic Case
Direct payments between customers and merchants
When customers use traditional payment systems such as credit cards or bank accounts, they inevitably rely on traditional financial networks such as card networks and banks. But if Stripe L1 can enable customers to pay merchants directly with stablecoins, it can eliminate the need for issuing banks and card networks, thereby significantly increasing settlement speed and reducing fees. Of course, since payment settlements on the blockchain are more difficult to cancel or refund, appropriate safeguards need to be taken.
Subscription service based on micropayments
Blockchain can support micropayments and streaming payment subscriptions that are not possible with traditional systems. Most current subscription services on Stripe are based on monthly or annual renewals, while Stripe L1 can enable per-minute billing. Users will pay strictly based on actual usage, and all payments can be automatically completed through smart contracts. This will represent a completely new subscription model, opening the door to building a variety of service products on top of it.
DeFi applications for short-term deposits
One of the reasons why the current payment system delays settlement is to deal with issues such as fraud, cancellations or refunds. Therefore, even if Stripe L1 allows customers to pay merchants directly with stablecoins, the funds are likely to be temporarily stored in Stripe L1 instead of being released to merchants immediately.
These short-term deposits are expected to be large in scale and can serve as a large liquidity pool for Stripe L1. For example, these funds can be used as a source of liquidity for DeFi protocols, used in the lending market, or invested in bonds to earn interest, thereby significantly improving capital efficiency.
3. Final Thoughts
After long-term research on stablecoins and observing their industry and ecosystem, I found the rumor that Stripe is about to launch L1 to be really interesting. So far, payment companies such as Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal have all viewed blockchain and stablecoins as additional features. If Stripe really launches L1, it may mark a historic moment, heralding the beginning of a paradigm shift in the payment system.
While Stripe has so far played the role of a payment gateway or acquirer, the launch of Stripe L1 allows it to play the role of both a card network and an issuing bank. In addition, it can improve payment efficiency through blockchain and enable some previously unattainable functions, such as automated management of micro-flow subscriptions and short-term deposits.
We are in an era of disruptive innovation in blockchain-powered payment systems. It remains to be seen whether Stripe will actually launch L1 as rumored.
