Interpreting Stripe's 2025 Annual Letter: Even in the Crypto Winter, It's Still the Summer of Stablecoins

Title: Stripe 2025 Letter: Even in a Crypto Winter, It’s Still the Summer of Stablecoins

Author: KarenZ

Source:

Reprint: Mars Finance

While the crypto market is still stuck in discussions of “winter,” Stripe in 2025 has pulled Web3 technology out of the “speculative narrative” and firmly planted it in the real economy, creating a different kind of “fireworks.”

On February 24, Stripe released its 2025 letter, showcasing a solid performance of “1.9 trillion USD in total transaction volume, up 34% year-over-year.” More importantly, the letter reveals progress in its Web3 strategy following acquisitions of companies like Bridge and Privy—this is never just simple capital M&A but a silent revolution: making Web3 no longer a niche celebration for enthusiasts but a foundational infrastructure for global payments and AI-driven commerce, quietly rewriting the rules of global finance.

Let’s start with the “fundamentals”: $1.9 trillion supporting 1.6% of global GDP flow

To understand Stripe’s Web3 ambitions, first look at its “confidence”—the core data in this annual letter, each demonstrating its absolute dominance in the global payments space and solidifying its Web3 foundation.

In 2025, all merchants and enterprises using Stripe processed a total of $1.9 trillion in transactions, a 34% increase year-over-year. How impressive is this? Converted, it accounts for 1.6% of global GDP—that is, for every $100 of economic output worldwide, $1.60 flows through Stripe’s system. It’s like an invisible major artery of finance, running through all aspects of the global real economy.

More critically, Stripe’s influence has long surpassed “payment tools.” Its programmable financial services directly or indirectly empower over 5 million businesses worldwide, covering most top AI companies, 90% of Dow Jones components, and 80% of Nasdaq 100 firms—almost encompassing the most dynamic commercial and tech entities globally.

Even in startup ecosystems, Stripe is quietly “monopolizing” entry points: currently, 25% of newly registered companies in Delaware, USA, are formed via Stripe Atlas (its rapid company formation service), meaning one in four new companies is built from the start within Stripe’s ecosystem. Additionally, its online payment tool Link has surpassed 200 million users, becoming one of the most popular quick payment methods worldwide.

This robust and powerful foundation gives Stripe enough confidence to bet on Web3—while most companies are shrinking their crypto efforts during the winter, Stripe is increasing its investments. The progress of integrating Bridge and Privy is the core proof of this bet.

Breaking stereotypes: Even in a crypto winter, stablecoins are thriving

When it comes to stablecoins, many first think of “a safe haven for trading” or “a subsidiary of the crypto world.” But in its annual letter, Stripe sharply breaks this stereotype with a set of data: “Although it may be a crypto winter now, it’s definitely the summer for stablecoins.”

The most direct comparison: despite Bitcoin’s price halving since October 2025 and the crypto market being in a slump, stablecoin payment volume has doubled against the trend, reaching $400 billion in 2025. More notably, 60% of this volume comes from B2B payments—meaning stablecoins have moved beyond being speculative tools and are now essential for cross-border corporate settlements and fund flows, truly entering core real economy scenarios.

Behind all this is Bridge, acquired by Stripe for $1.1 billion, which is the key driver. Many wonder what happened to Bridge after the acquisition. The answer lies in its transaction volume—post-acquisition, Bridge’s transaction volume has surged more than fourfold, proving Stripe’s acquisition logic: not just buying a company, but integrating a set of practical, deployable technical capabilities.

Bridge: Transaction volume quadrupled

Stripe’s transformation of Bridge has never been just a “change of ownership.” Instead, it’s deeply integrated into Stripe’s financial ecosystem, building a comprehensive solution for fiat and crypto interoperability, achieving three major breakthroughs that directly address industry pain points.

First, it becomes the “technical core” of Stripe’s stablecoin financial accounts. Now, Stripe’s enterprise users can, without additional third-party integrations, freely send and receive funds in fiat and crypto via Bridge’s technology—no more cumbersome API setups, no compliance worries. It’s like opening a “convenient crypto payment gateway” for enterprises.

Second, it bridges the gap between fiat and crypto. In April 2025, Bridge partnered with Visa to launch a stablecoin payment card: users can spend their stablecoin balances directly, with the system automatically converting stablecoins into local fiat currency at checkout. Merchants don’t need to handle crypto tech or understand stablecoin mechanics—making it indistinguishable from regular card payments. This mode completely removes the biggest obstacle to stablecoin adoption in daily transactions.

The Phantom crypto wallet has also launched a stablecoin card via Bridge, meaning stablecoins are no longer just “digital assets stored in wallets” but real currencies that can be used to buy coffee or shop—truly entering everyday life.

Third, it lowers the barrier to issuing stablecoins. Bridge’s new Open Issuance feature allows any enterprise to quickly create and manage their own stablecoins—no need for huge R&D costs or lengthy compliance processes. With Stripe’s ecosystem and Bridge’s technology, businesses can have their own stablecoins, opening new possibilities for cross-border financing and fund management for small and medium enterprises.

Privy and the “disappearing wallet”: painless onboarding for 110 million users

If Bridge is the “transaction hub” for stablecoins, then Privy is Stripe’s key piece for connecting Web3 wallets.

Privy isn’t limited to being a “wallet for crypto enthusiasts” but is transformed into a reusable enterprise tool, significantly lowering the entry barrier for Web3.

Its core advantage is its powerful API—businesses can quickly deploy user-friendly Web3 wallets by integrating Privy’s API, without developing separate wallet interfaces or investing heavily in crypto tech. This seemingly simple step fundamentally changes the application logic of Web3 wallets: no longer just a niche toy for enthusiasts, but accessible for enterprises.

By the end of 2025, Privy supports over 110 million programmable wallets, spread across the globe and serving various enterprises and users. Stripe sees Privy’s core value as democratizing Web3 infrastructure.

Upcoming: Tempo, the Layer 1 dedicated to payments, to launch mainnet

If Bridge and Privy are the puzzle pieces acquired through M&A, then Tempo is Stripe’s “proprietary child,” co-developed with crypto venture firm Paradigm.

Stripe’s annual letter openly points out the limitations of existing blockchains in payment scenarios, including throughput, reliability, cost predictability, and privacy. More critically, Stripe believes that as AI agents start initiating large-scale transactions, future blockchains will need to handle millions or even billions of transactions per second. Current blockchain architectures are incapable of meeting this demand.

Tempo’s design philosophy is simple: born for payments. Its core features include dedicated payment channels, sub-second confirmation times, optional privacy, and stablecoin-based fee payments. Stripe reports that companies like Visa, Nubank, and Shopify are already testing Tempo’s performance across various applications, including global payments, embedded finance, and remittances. The Tempo mainnet is also imminent.

The most dramatic story involves Klarna. Its CEO was once a well-known crypto skeptic, openly disinterested in crypto tech. But after experiencing Tempo, his attitude changed 180 degrees—Klarna became the first bank to issue stablecoins on Tempo’s testnet.

The future is here: the rise of agentic commerce

Even more exciting is the rise of “Agentic Commerce.” Stripe predicts that future internet transactions will be primarily executed by AI agents. We have long moved beyond hype into actual building and application.

· Stripe and OpenAI developed the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), supporting the first shopping experience integrated into ChatGPT.

· Launched Shared Payment Tokens, allowing agents to initiate payments without exposing credentials.

· Initiated Machine Payments, enabling developers to charge agents with just a few lines of code. Stripe plans to support USDC stablecoin payments on Base chain via the x402 protocol, with plans to expand to more protocols, payment methods, currencies, and blockchains.

Stripe emphasizes that Tempo’s architecture is inherently suited for AI-driven agentic commerce and micro-payments—core areas of its future strategy. As countless AI agents autonomously collaborate, purchase services, and exchange data online, they need a high-throughput, low-cost, programmable settlement layer.

Stripe’s potential acquisition of PayPal? An uncertain high-stakes gamble

On the same day Stripe released its annual letter, Bloomberg reported that Stripe is considering acquiring all or part of PayPal.

The timing is delicate. PayPal is in trouble: in 2025, it lost nearly a third of its market value, now valued at about $43.5 billion. Meanwhile, CNBC reports Stripe has announced a takeover offer to employees and shareholders, with a valuation of $159 billion—up 74% from $91.5 billion a year earlier. Stripe co-founder and President John Collison told CNBC that the company currently has no plans for an IPO, as it would distract from current product and business growth.

If the deal goes through, Stripe could gain Venmo, a highly engaged consumer wallet, PayPal’s merchant relationships, and its brand checkout capabilities (though growth has slowed recently). More importantly, it would significantly boost Stripe’s consumer influence—Stripe has long been dominant among merchants but relatively weak in consumer wallets. However, the deal faces substantial challenges, including antitrust scrutiny, funding, and integration issues.

In an interview, Stripe President John Collison responded intriguingly: “PayPal has obviously struggled over the past few years, and the landscape has changed significantly with Apple Pay and Google Pay. I can’t comment on any M&A speculation, but they are indeed in a tough spot.” This carefully worded reply neither confirms nor denies negotiations but acknowledges PayPal’s difficulties and market shifts.

Summary

In conclusion, Stripe’s 2025 narrative is clear: break down financial borders with stablecoins, lower crypto adoption barriers with Privy, handle trillions of transactions with Tempo in the AI era, and connect AI and commerce through agentic platforms.

The quadrupling of Bridge’s volume, Privy’s support for over 100 million wallets, Tempo’s testnet rollout, and stablecoin penetration in B2B are quietly reshaping the infrastructure of the global economy.

We may witness the birth of a truly “internet-native financial system.” By then, you might find yourself buying things with stablecoins, making cross-border payments on a blockchain, and using programmable accounts embedded in various apps instead of traditional banking apps. This isn’t science fiction—it’s the future Stripe is building.

As stated in the letter, the machine of natural selection is accelerating. Stripe clearly doesn’t want to be just a spectator but aims to be the engine powering this machine.