#payments-infrastructure

#payments-infrastructure

Last October, the payments giant Stripe announced a blockbuster $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge, a little-known startup focused on the dollar-backed cryptocurrencies known as stablecoins. Long a feature of the insular world of blockchain diehards, the technology had yet to break into Silicon Valley. But Stripe's acquisition, alongside the thawing regulatory environment under the Trump administration, has catapulted stablecoins into the mainstream.

It's a debit card that lets users decide whether to pay upfront or make payments over time, all managed through the Affirm app. In the recent earnings, Affirm card GMV more than doubled, up 132% to $1.2 billion. Active cardholders nearly doubled, reaching 2.3 million, and in-store spend increased by 187%. These are beyond just signs of adoption; more like Affirm turning its card into a core payments habit.

Traditional payment systems process transactions through layers of intermediaries, creating delays and costs that hold back global commerce. While stablecoins processed $27.6T in 2024 alone-more than Visa and Mastercard combined-most of this digital money remains trapped in wallets, unable to be spent at everyday merchants. Rain addresses this gap by providing enterprise-grade stablecoin infrastructure that lets businesses launch card programs, wallets, and payment solutions through a single API integration.