Why are fintech companies racing to build their own Blockchain from Stripe to Circle?

Author: Ben Weiss, Fortune Magazine

Compiled by: Luffy, Foresight News

Building one's own blockchain has become a new trend in the fintech sector. The American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has its own blockchain; online brokerage Robinhood announced plans to launch its own blockchain in June, and its competitor eToro is also considering following suit. Now, fintech giants Stripe and stablecoin issuer Circle have also joined this movement.

According to a deleted job posting and sources familiar with the matter, Stripe is developing a blockchain called Tempo, focusing on payment functionalities. Meanwhile, Circle announced on Tuesday morning that it is building Arc, a blockchain specifically designed for stablecoins.

Enterprise blockchain has suddenly emerged like mushrooms after rain, raising a question: why do all major financial companies (especially Stripe and Circle) seem to be transforming into blockchain developers?

Master the complete technology stack

Two executives in the stablecoin space and an investor stated that Stripe's motivation is simple: vertical integration.

By acquiring the stablecoin startup Bridge for $1.1 billion, Stripe has incorporated its own stablecoin and payment network revenue. After acquiring the cryptocurrency wallet company Privy in June, it can also provide users with accounts for storing stablecoins. For Stripe, which is known for traditional payment services like online checkout, the addition of blockchain business means creating a mature stablecoin ecosystem.

Rob Hadick, a general partner at the crypto venture capital firm Dragonfly, often invests in stablecoin startups. He told Fortune magazine, "These big companies are motivated to control the entire tech stack."

Stripe is convinced that stablecoins are the future of payments. If a large portion of its $1.4 trillion in transaction volume is completed through stablecoins, it could miss out on millions of dollars in revenue.

Blockchain is similar to Google Cloud or Amazon Web Services in the stack of encryption technologies. A group of decentralized servers handles numerous transactions on cryptocurrency applications, and the server owners receive fees for providing computing power.

For example, according to data from DefiLlama, Coinbase's own blockchain Base has generated over $130 million in fees since its launch at the beginning of 2023.

Luca Prosperi, co-founder and CEO of stablecoin infrastructure company M0, told Fortune magazine: "Everyone wants to control the economy."

However, whether the surge of stablecoins and their related blockchains will make it difficult for ordinary consumers to cope with the endless stream of tokens and blockchains remains to be seen.

Stripe did not respond to the comment request.

Defense and Offense

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire

The motivation of Circle is similar.

This stablecoin issuer, which launched explosively in June, has its own token USDC and has built an increasingly robust payment network, even offering services for enterprise clients to create their own cryptocurrency wallets. However, this cryptocurrency company does not have its own blockchain and cannot collect fees from the transaction volume in its services.

"They also want to control this aspect of the flow of funds," said Bam Azizi, co-founder and CEO of cryptocurrency payment startup Mesh, when discussing Circle.

However, the situations of Stripe and Circle are not the same. Stripe is one of the largest private companies in the tech sector, and as a leading payment processor, its revenue sources are diverse. Just in January of this year, its Stripe Billing business generated an annual revenue of 500 million dollars.

In contrast, Circle, in the second quarter of 2025, generated over 96% of its revenue solely from the interest produced by the U.S. Treasury bonds backing its stablecoin. If interest rates decrease, its entire business model could be at risk.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire discussed the company's performance in the second quarter during an interview with The Information, stating: "We are building a complete system, from the infrastructure layer to the stablecoin layer, and then to the payment network layer." A Circle spokesperson declined to comment further.

Nevertheless, some people believe that this newly listed company is catching up with its competitors.

"Circle takes a defensive and passive response strategy," said Hadick, a general partner at Dragonfly, "while Stripe focuses on the future of payments and its own business, adopting an offensive and proactive approach."