What Would Stripe L1 Look Like

Key Takeaways

• Rumors are circulating within the crypto community that Stripe may launch its own L1 network. Considering its recent acquisitions of Bridge and Privy, it’s plausible that releasing its own blockchain could be the next step.
• Stripe is a leading global PSP that plays a key role in connecting merchants, acquirers, card networks, and issuing banks on a technical level to ensure smooth and secure transactions.
• If Stripe does launch an L1, in the base case it is expected to support stablecoin use and Stripe L1 integration for customer payments and merchant settlement. In the bull case, it could revolutionize the payment system by enabling 1) direct payments bypassing card issuers and networks, 2) micro-streaming subscriptions previously impossible in legacy systems, and 3) yield generation from short-term deposit balances held on Stripe L1.
• While Stripe currently functions primarily as a payment gateway and acquirer, a potential Stripe L1 would position the company to assume roles traditionally filled by issuing banks and card networks. This would mark a major milestone in the history of the payments industry.

1. Will Stripe Really Launch an L1?

No one outside insiders knows for sure whether Stripe will launch an L1. However, given the recent surge of interest in blockchain and stablecoin industries within traditional U.S. financial circles, alongside increasing blockchain integrations by card network companies like Visa and Mastercard, and Robinhood’s announcement of its plan to tokenize stocks via Arbitrum, the rumors around Stripe launching an L1 are enough to capture the community’s attention.

Stripe’s mission is to grow the GDP of the internet. The company focuses on building global economic infrastructure to help businesses of all sizes—from startups to large enterprises—manage payments, operations, and growth online. From that perspective, blockchain is a highly attractive technology for Stripe.

In fact, Stripe has been actively expanding into blockchain-related ventures. In February 2025, Stripe acquired Bridge @Stablecoin , a stablecoin infrastructure company, for approximately 1.1 billion dollars, strategically reinforcing its position in stablecoin-based financial infrastructure. Building on this, Stripe introduced its Stablecoin Financial Accounts service at the Stripe Sessions event in May 2025.

This service is available in 101 countries worldwide and enables businesses to:

• Hold USDC issued by Circle and USDB issued by Bridge

• Deposit and withdraw stablecoins via USD transfers through ACH/wire and EUR transfers through SEPA

• Deposit and withdraw USDC across Arbitrum, Avalanche C-Chain, Base, Ethereum, Optimism, Polygon, Solana, and Stellar

This means businesses in 101 countries can easily access dollar-based stablecoins through Stripe, with seamless integration to the traditional banking system for easy dollar deposits, withdrawals, and payments.

In addition, in June 2025, Stripe acquired @privy_io, a Web3 wallet infrastructure startup that offers features like wallet creation via email or SSO login, transaction signing, key management, and gas abstraction.

Given these moves, the rumor that Stripe may launch an L1 to expand its blockchain business may not be entirely far-fetched. In other words, Stripe now has the stablecoin infrastructure and the wallet infrastructure in place, so launching a blockchain network that can generate synergy with them could be a natural next step.

2. What If Stripe Launches an L1 Network?

Of course, there is absolutely no confirmation that Stripe will launch an L1. It is nothing more than a rumor. Still, we can speculate on how it might be used and what previously impossible services it could enable if Stripe were to launch its own L1. The ideas listed below are purely the result of my imagination, so take them lightly and simply think, “Ah, so this is how blockchain could be used in payment services.”

2.1 Stripe’s Role as PSP

To understand what blockchain could improve, we first need to understand what kind of services Stripe provides. Stripe is the most well-known PSP (Payment Service Provider). A PSP acts as a technical bridge between merchants, acquirers, card networks, and issuing banks to ensure that payments happen smoothly and securely. Specifically, Stripe performs 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 network and issuing bank.
• Support for Multiple Payment Methods: It integrates various payment options including credit cards, digital wallets, bank transfers, and local payment methods, making them available to both customers and merchants.
• Fraud Detection and Security: It prevents fraudulent transactions using machine learning-based fraud detection and security standards such as PCI-DSS compliance.
• Multi-Currency and International Payments Support: It facilitates international sales by offering automatic currency conversions between multiple currencies.
• 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: It helps businesses easily build payment systems via APIs and SDKs, and handles operations such as customer support, regulatory compliance, refunds, and billing.
• Customer Experience Enhancement: It delivers a fast and seamless payment flow while supporting various scenarios such as subscription billing, installment payments, and refunds.
• Merchant Settlement Intermediation: PSPs work with acquirers or function as acquirers themselves to settle payments received from issuing banks to the merchants.

If PSPs didn’t exist today, merchants would have to support a wide range of payment methods on their own and go through the complex process of contracting directly with acquirers. This would significantly degrade both merchant and customer experiences.

2.2 What Changes Could Stripe L1 Bring?

If Stripe does launch an L1, how could it improve existing services, and what new ones might it enable? I would like to propose the following ideas:

2.2.1 Base Case

Integration of Merchant Stablecoin Financial Accounts with Stripe L1
Stripe currently offers stablecoin financial accounts to merchants in 101 countries, enabling them to hold USDC and USDB stablecoins and deposit or withdraw them via traditional banking systems (ACH, SEPA, …) and various blockchain networks.

If Stripe L1 is launched, it is expected that the stablecoin financial accounts service will also support deposits and withdrawals through Stripe L1. Furthermore, merchants could use their stablecoin holdings on Stripe L1 for various financial activities.

Stablecoin Settlement Option for Merchants
As a PSP, Stripe either partners with acquirers or functions as one itself to settle merchants’ sales proceeds. If Stripe L1 launches, merchants may be able to choose to settle in dollar-based stablecoins. This could be a tremendous benefit for merchants who have high demand for dollars but limited access to them.

Wallet Services for Customers
Stripe acquired Privy, a company that provides infrastructure allowing users to easily create and use wallets. While Stripe primarily serves merchants and businesses and has not offered wallet services for individual users, if Stripe L1 utilizes Privy’s infrastructure, it could support individuals in easily creating Web3 wallets on Stripe L1, using stablecoins for payments, and participating in various financial activities on the Stripe L1 ecosystem.

Stablecoin Payment Option for Customers
Currently, customers making online payments through Stripe are limited to cards, bank accounts, and other conventional methods. If Stripe L1 is introduced, it may allow users to link Web3 wallets (possibly provided by Stripe or third parties) and choose stablecoin as a payment method.

2.2.2 Bull Case

Direct Payments Between Customers and Merchants
When customers use traditional payment systems like credit cards or bank accounts, they inevitably rely on legacy financial networks such as card networks and banks. But if Stripe L1 enables customers to pay merchants directly with their stablecoins, it could eliminate the need for issuing banks and card networks, resulting in significant improvements in settlement speed and fee reduction. Of course, since payment settlements on blockchains are harder to cancel or refund, proper safeguards would need to be put in place.

Micro-Payment Based Subscription Services
Blockchain can support micro-payments and streaming-based subscriptions that traditional systems cannot. While most current subscriptions via Stripe operate on a monthly or annual renewal model, Stripe L1 could enable subscriptions billed by the minute. Users would then pay strictly based on actual usage, and all payments could be automated via smart contracts. As this would represent an entirely new subscription model, it could open the door to various service offerings built on top of it.

DeFi Utilization of Short-Term Deposits
One reason for delayed settlement in current payment systems is to prepare for issues like fraud, cancellations, or refunds. Therefore, even if Stripe L1 allows direct stablecoin payments from customers to merchants, it’s likely that the funds would be temporarily held in Stripe L1 rather than being instantly released to the merchant.

These short-term deposits are expected to be substantial in scale and could serve as a massive liquidity pool for Stripe L1. For example, these funds could be supplied as liquidity in DeFi protocols, used in lending markets, or invested in bonds to earn interest, thereby significantly improving capital efficiency.

3. Final Thoughts

After conducting long-term research on stablecoins and observing the industry and ecosystem, I find the Stripe L1 rumor to be genuinely intriguing. So far, payment companies like Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal have treated blockchain and stablecoins as mere added features. If Stripe does launch an L1, it could mark a historic moment signaling the beginning of a paradigm shift in payment systems.

While Stripe has so far played the role of a payment gateway or acquirer, the introduction of Stripe L1 could allow it to also fulfill the roles of card networks and issuing banks. Moreover, it could improve payment efficiency through blockchain and take charge of features previously unachievable, such as micro-streaming subscriptions and automated management of short-term deposits.

We are now facing a disruptive era of innovation in payment systems powered by blockchain. Whether Stripe truly launches an L1, as the rumors suggest, remains to be seen.

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