A June 2025 deal to bring stablecoin payments to Shopify will simplify cross-border commerce, but challenges remain.
Shopify merchants can now accept USD Coin (USDC), a stablecoin cryptocurrency tied to the value of the U.S. dollar.
Payments are processed via Coinbase’s Base Network. In most cases, the digital currency makes selling internationally less expensive and more straightforward.
“Small businesses should be able to sell to a customer on the other side of the world as easily as their next-door neighbor,” according to Shopify’s stablecoin product announcement.
The value of a coin tied to the U.S. dollar is stable.
Digital Money
Almost since Satoshi Nakamoto first released bitcoin in January 2009, merchants have understood many of the technology’s potential benefits, including low cost, speed, and simplicity.
Each benefit applies in some way to Shopify’s USDC feature and cryptocurrency more generally. Digital tokens have long been a means to bypass borders and trade more directly.
Low transaction fees. Compared to payment card transactions, digital currencies can be less expensive.
In 2025, a merchant using a payment gateway to process bitcoin sales might pay 1% in fees. Yet the same transaction with a credit or debit card could incur processing fees of 2% or more and up to 3% for foreign currency exchange.
For the new crypto offering, merchants pay their regular Shopify Payments rate minus a rebate up to 0.50% on USDC orders, with no additional fees for international orders.
Fast transactions. From a store’s perspective, digital money is fast. USDC transactions have settled in a minute. By comparison, a payment card transaction is typically quickly authorized but not entirely settled for a day or more.
While settlement is quick, Shopify’s USDC adds a first-of-its-kind escrow contract to provide a level of certainty for both sellers and buyers.
This escrow approach ensures transactional integrity, enables smooth refunds and adjustments, synchronizes tax and compliance calculations, and helps manage fluctuating foreign exchange rates — all valuable safeguards for cross-border sales.
Global sales. For international shoppers, cryptocurrencies, particularly stablecoins, offer a seamless checkout experience.
Customers can pay using a compatible crypto wallet without worrying about currency conversion or foreign transaction fees.
For merchants, digital coins simplify cross-border transactions, removing many intermediaries that increase cost and delay settlements.
Volatility
Given their benefits, why aren’t cryptocurrencies more popular in ecommerce? The answer, mainly, is volatility.
Consider bitcoin’s first known transaction. On May 22, 2010, a fellow from Florida, Laszlo Hanyecz, purchased two Papa Johns large pizzas with 10,000 bitcoins, which, in 2010, were worth about $41.
On June 17, 2025, a single bitcoin was trading for $104,924. Had Hanyecz foregone his pizzas and retained his bitcoin, he would now have roughly $1.1 billion.
It would have been a financial rollercoaster for Hanyecz. He would have endured several sharp drops in value. There was the dip in 2011, for example, when bitcoin fell from around $9,100 to $3,800 in a few days.
In contrast, the U.S. dollar is boring. Inflation has cut its buying power, but a 2010 dollar in 2025 is worth approximately $1.47 in purchasing power.
Stablecoin
Stablecoins aim to solve the volatility problem.
Stablecoins are digital assets pegged to a stable index, such as a fiat currency.
USDC has been around since 2018. Circle, a regulated financial technology company, and a consortium of partners manage the digital token.
Most of the USDC reserves reside in the Circle Reserve Fund, which is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and holds only cash and U.S.-backed instruments. Thus USDC is no more volatile than a paper buck.
International Transactions
Stablecoins like USDCs hold real promise for international ecommerce.
USDCs or similar tokens can expedite cross-border payments, reduce fees, and eliminate currency conversion headaches. A customer in Europe can pay a North American merchant in digital currency, and the merchant can receive local funds quickly and cost-effectively.
At least two cross-border challenges remain, however. First, while they simplify payments, stablecoins do not solve the complexities of global shipping, customs, duties, or tax compliance. Merchants still face the same logistics and regulatory hurdles that often slow international orders.
Second, adoption is uncertain. Many shoppers are unfamiliar with stablecoins or unwilling to set up a crypto wallet for purchases. Without clear incentives such as discounts or rewards, consumers might stick to familiar payment methods.
