STRIPE'S USDC FEE ISN'T JUST “GAS”

Summary from the TLDR Crypto newsletter

Stripe isn't charging to move USDC, it's charging to wrap stablecoins in a full payments stack (checkout UI, multi-rail routing, refunds, fiat settlement, fraud and compliance, subscriptions, analytics, and support) and embedding it where merchants already accept cards, PayPal, etc. To actually undercut 1.5%, a competitor would need to replicate that entire suite, not just accept a wallet transfer, which is why most merchants won't roll their own crypto integration for what is still incremental volume.