When Stripe launched the Tempo blockchain, its main objective was to bring significant everyday payments volume to stablecoins—a goal it is now one step closer to achieving following a deal with DoorDash.
For a blockchain that only brought its mainnet online last month, DoorDash’s participation is a signal of early traction. Tempo has also established partnerships with companies like Shopify, OpenAI, Visa, and Mastercard, all of which have the potential to introduce stablecoins to end consumers at meaningful scale.
“This is how stablecoins go mainstream. Not through retail payments but through payouts and treasury flows,” said Joel Hugentobler, Cryptocurrency Analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research. “This is less about crypto and more about fixing pain points like faster access to earnings, lower fees, and 24/7 settlement.”
A Global Challenge
These issues are part of why the gig and creator economies have become attractive to financial services firms. Over a quarter of the U.S. workforce participates in the gig economy in some capacity, yet many workers still report delayed, inconsistent, or incomplete payouts.
This is a global challenge, and one reason Visa launched a debit card for UK TikTok creators designed to help users receive virtual gifts that can be converted into income.
Second-Order Effects
Stablecoins may be better suited to many payout use cases, as they enable near real-time settlement that is secure and low-cost. Even more importantly, they avoid many of the frictions associated with cross-border payments, such as delays, transfer fees, and currency conversion costs.
These advantages have fueled demand for stablecoin-based payouts in gig economies. For example, in the Philippines, many freelancers work with foreign clients, and cross-border payment complexity often results in settlement delays of several days and processing fees as high as 10%.
While stablecoins offer a compelling solution to these challenges, gig economy payouts may ultimately represent just the tip of the iceberg.
“Thinking in second-order effects, once platforms normalize paying workers in stablecoins, I don’t think it automatically means those stablecoin balances are going back to banks in all cases,” Hugentobler said. “Instead, they get used for remittances, bill pay, or even embedded financial services. To be clear, I don’t think this will replace banks, but if more companies continue to leverage stablecoins like this, it will shift where and how money moves.”
