SS #93 - Stripe Bets Big on Stablecoins and Blockchain

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Stripe is moving $2T in annual payments onchain, and with Tempo live and Bridge deployed, the abstraction layer between fiat and crypto just got a lot harder for native crypto startups to compete with.

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In Today's Edition:

• Headline: Stripe Bets Big on Stablecoins and Blockchain

• Quick Bites: Western Union Teams with Crossmint to Support USDPT

• Yield of the Week: ALPHA USDC Core: 33.89% APY

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HEADLINE

State of play: Stripe is integrating stablecoins and blockchain across its core payments stack to become the "AWS for money," using Bridge, Privy, and its new Tempo blockchain to cut settlement from days to near-instant across $2T in annual payments.

• Stripe's Tempo blockchain went live last month with infrastructure partners including Mastercard, Visa, UBS, and Klarna, enabling near-instant settlement on a network that currently runs on T+3 rails.

• Merchants can already accept stablecoins at checkout via Shopify, while platforms like Remote.com allow payouts in crypto through Bridge.

• Demand is strongest in emerging markets where cards fail and currencies are unstable, with Stripe pointing to Argentina as a target market for stablecoin-based financial services.

What’s Next: Stripe's roadmap points to yield products and capital access in emerging markets, with DeFi-enabled services in underbanked regions like Argentina as the next expansion surface.

Why it Matters: Stripe processing 2% of global GDP and moving its stack onchain is the clearest signal yet that stablecoin rails are becoming infrastructure, not a feature.

Our Take: Stripe isn't trying to be a crypto company, it's trying to own the abstraction layer between fiat and onchain, and that positioning is far more threatening to native crypto payment startups than any regulatory headwind.

QUICK BITES

• Senate crypto bill faces April setback.

• BIS says stablecoins act more like ETFs than money.

• Western Union teams with Crossmint to support USDPT on Solana.

• Circle unveils USDC Bridge for native cross-chain stablecoin transfers.

• French minister urges banks to expand euro stablecoins, tokenized deposits.

YIELD OF THE WEEK

ALPHA USDC Core: 33.89% APY

• The vault accepts USDC deposits and allocates capital across high-conviction Morpho lending markets focused on Avant and Reservoir ecosystem assets, with ~$11.76M in TVL.

• Capital is primarily deployed into savUSD/USDC (~$5.41M at 100% utilization), PT-avUSD-14MAY2026/USDC (~$3.49M at 98.28%), and PT-savUSD-14MAY2026/USDC (~$2.86M at 100%), with near-zero idle liquidity.

• Yield is generated from lending demand across fully utilized PT and yield-bearing stablecoin collateral markets, with individual market APYs ranging from 27.22% to 43.79%, net of a 10% performance fee.

USDat (Saturn): 9.23% APY

• The vault accepts USDC deposits and provides exposure to a stablecoin fully backed by tokenized US Treasuries and stablecoins, with no lock-up period and ~$85M in TVL, while also earning Saturn points on deposits.

• Capital is deployed into tokenized US Treasury holdings and stablecoin reserves, maintaining a 100% treasury-backed structure with a fair value of $1.00 and no redemption restrictions.

• Yield is generated from US Treasury income and stablecoin yield strategies, delivering a 9.23% expected APY while depositors earn points to amplify rewards across additional yield strategies.

Felix USDC: 14.76% APY

• The vault accepts USDC deposits on HyperEVM and supplies liquidity to high-liquidity Morpho Blue markets backed by liquid blue-chip collateral, with ~$25.59M in total deposits and ~$1.2M in available liquidity.

• Capital is primarily deployed into kHYPE/USDC (~$25.2M at 95.28% utilization) and WHYPE/USDC (~$387.7k at 96.50% utilization), with smaller allocations to PT-kHYPE and UBTC markets.

• Yield is generated from lending demand across high-utilization collateralized markets, with individual market APYs ranging from 15.53% to 23.03% on primary markets, net of a 10% performance fee.

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Disclaimer: All the information presented in this publication and its affiliates is strictly for educational purposes only. It should not be construed or taken as financial, legal, investment, or any other form of advice.