Shopify Partners with Solana, Accepts USDC Payments

E-commerce giant expands payment options with Solana Pay

E-commerce giant Shopify has announced that it will be accepting crypto transactions through its platform, starting with USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin payments. This move comes as Shopify aims to provide more options for its millions of merchants. According to reports, Solana, the blockchain network behind Solana Pay, plans to add other altcoins to the platform in the future, including its native token Solana (SOL) and the meme token Bonk Coin (BONK).

Solana Pay: The future of payment solutions

Solana Pay is being hailed as the "killer app for crypto" by Josh Fried from Solana Labs. He believes that the intersection of digital assets and payment solutions is where the future of crypto lies. Fried also highlights that Solana Pay can significantly reduce transaction costs compared to traditional credit card processing fees. While credit card fees range from 1.5% to 3.5%, Solana's network average charge per transaction is only $0.00025. In the last epoch, users paid an average transaction fee of 0.000009664 SOL.

Shopify's impact on the Solana blockchain

With 10% of all e-commerce transactions in the US being made through Shopify, the company's integration of Solana Pay will serve as a proving ground for the blockchain network. Solana has previously faced reliability and uptime issues, which have been attributed to its low-cost transactions. However, recent statistics show that Solana's performance is improving, with 100% uptime since February 25. This marks an entire quarter without an outage, aside from a single February incident that lasted almost 19 hours.

Shopify's gradual embrace of Web3 solutions

Shopify has been gradually integrating Web3 solutions into its operations, aiming to cater to the growing demand for blockchain technology. The company has incorporated a suite of blockchain commerce tools for Web3-focused stores and added crypto wallet connect features. This collaboration with Solana further demonstrates Shopify's commitment to embracing new technologies and providing a seamless experience for its merchants and customers.

About Solana Pay

Solana Pay, launched in February 2022, is a peer-to-peer payment infrastructure that allows merchants to accept and settle payment transactions using various digital assets. It is a collaborative effort between Solana Labs, Checkout.com, Circle, and Citcon, with wallet integrations from Phantom. With Shopify now on board, Solana Pay is set to gain more traction and potentially revolutionize the way e-commerce transactions are conducted.