Stripe CEO Patrick Collison believes that the main benefits of stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) will be seen in international payments. He gave the example of the ability to standardize KYC and anti-money laundering (AML) procedures during a discussion with Mark Carney at an Institute of International Finance event.

Real-time payments have been available in the UK for years, SEPA instant payments are now rolling out in Europe, and Fed Now is expected to launch in the US next year. Collison noted that making clearinghouses faster may not be attractive compared to blockchain and CBDC, but it does reduce costs. Combined with open banking, this enables innovation.

So, looking to a future where payments are already made in real time, CBDCs and stablecoins might not have as big of an impact on the speed front. He believes that the benefits will be seen further afield.

In April, we reported that Twitter creators could receive follower payments in USDC stablecoins through Stripe. These relate to ticketed slots and Super Follows.

“In the normal course of things, this is the kind of product that would once again be available to Twitter users in North America and Western Europe. That’s where, on an average income basis, those are the most lucrative opportunities. Those are the markets that are best understood,” Collison said.

“But that doesn’t make any sense when you think about it. Like, why shouldn’t a Twitter user in Brazil be able to have a premium account? Why shouldn’t a Twitter user in Pakistan be able to have a premium account? Why shouldn’t a Twitter user in Namibia be able to have a premium account?

“So the way we built it with Twitter was that they’re using stablecoins, USDC, so that it’s possible to pay to any country where you can get through basic KYC, AML, counterterrorism, et cetera. Therefore, verification is uniform across markets, where it would normally be inhibited by heterogeneous rails. Now you can grant rights much more broadly.”

Meanwhile, Stripe was one of the original members of the Facebook-founded Libra initiative. He but he pulled out along with Visa, Mastercard and PayPal following regulatory pressure. That pressure eventually shut down the renamed Project Diem.

In March, Stripe launched payment services for cryptocurrency businesses that allow them to accept fiat deposits and payments in local currencies.