Solana Pay, the payment protocol built on the Solana blockchain, is now plugged into e-commerce giant Shopify, allowing users to pay in USD Coin (USDC), the companies announced Wednesday.
With the integration, users will be able to connect Solana-centric crypto wallets, like Phantom or Slope, and settle payments on-chain with merchants using USDC.
While USDC, one of the most popular dollar-linked stablecoins, is the first payment option to be enabled via the integration, other crypto assets will follow in the future, a representative of the Solana Foundation told CoinDesk.
“When thinking about this integration, we chose a stablecoin because merchants and consumers “think in dollars,” Josh Fried, head of commerce business development at the Solana Foundation told CoinDesk. ”It creates a much simpler entry point when pricing is in a currency consumers and merchants naturally understand.”
When paying with USDC, transactions will be settled almost instantly as opposed to most credit card payments which can take several days to clear, Fried said.
Solana Pay went live in early 2022 to help merchants accept crypto payments, with Checkout.com, Circle and Citcon supporting the protocol.
UPDATE (Aug. 23, 20:43 UTC): Adds comments from Josh Fried, head of commerce business development at the Solana Foundation.