Following Shopify’s integration with Coinbase, the stablecoin acceptance platform, named Coinbase Payments, will be introduced at scale to merchants.

Providing Infrastructure

The platform enables merchants to receive payments in Circle’s USDC through a network that runs on Coinbase’s Base layer-2 solution and supports multiple wallets such as MetaMask, Phantom, and Coinbase Wallet.

Handling Merchant Operational Tasks

On the backend, the solution is designed to manage standard merchant operations like refunds and subscriptions, leveraging Coinbase’s APIs.

Benefits and Rewards

The integration of Shopify on Coinbase Payments brings stablecoin payments to a wide range of merchants. Stablecoins offer several advantages, including borderless transactions, enhanced security, nearly instantaneous processing, and freedom from typical credit card transaction fees.

These benefits could result in substantial cost savings for major retailers such as Amazon and Walmart, which have shown interest in launching their own stablecoin programs. Additionally, Coinbase plans to introduce programmable rewards to the platform soon, allowing merchants to incentivize customers who use branded coins.

Stablecoins on the Rise

The recent surge of stablecoin launches reflects a growing market, especially with significant regulatory developments. The U.S. Senate’s passage of the GENIUS Act aims at establishing a regulatory framework for stablecoins in the country.

While this marks an important step forward for the digital asset industry, the legislation still needs to be approved by the House and reconciled with the STABLE Act. Increased regulatory clarity is expected to provide momentum to the stablecoin market’s ongoing acceleration.