Fireblocks launches crypto payment engine with Checkout.com and Worldpay as pilot partners

After a successful pilot phase, Fireblocks has launched its new payment engine for merchants, opening up avenues for businesses to settle and accept cryptocurrency transactions across jurisdictions.

Fireblock’s new payment engine is said to offer “turnkey solutions” for businesses looking to integrate digital assets into their operations, the company announced on Monday. The platform allows payment service providers to incorporate new crypto payment rails and accept, settle and process digital asset transactions instantly. The platform also supports cross-border internal settlement, micropayments and merchant adoption with lower processing fees.

Ran Goldi, Fireblock’s vice president of payments, told Cointelegraph that the solution is “token-agnostic,” meaning payment service providers can incorporate any type of digital asset they want. “They can use any of the 42 blockchains and 1,300+ tokens that Fireblocks supports,” he said. Goldi also clarified that, due to a confluence of factors, including regulatory changes, stablecoins have emerged as the frontrunner for digital asset payments.

Payments Engine was piloted by payment processor Checkout.com, which settled $1 billion in commerce transactions using the solution. On Monday, Fireblocks announced that FIS, the world’s largest merchant, will also begin piloting the solution. FIS manages Worldpay, a multi-billion dollar payment processing company it acquired in 2019.

Fireblocks expanded its infrastructure offerings to include crypto payments when it acquired First Diigtal, a stablecoin settlement platform, in February 2022. As reported by Cointelegraph, the estimated $100 million acquisition allowed Fireblocks to add business-to-business, business-to- consumer and payment support services across national borders.

The acquisition came at a time when several merchants signaled their intention to adopt crypto payment services shortly. A survey of 2,000 US retail executives conducted by Deloitte in December 2021 found that 75% of respondents planned to accept both stablecoin and cryptocurrency payments within 24 months.

Related: Walmart CTO says crypto will be a “major” payments disruptor

Meanwhile, a 2022 study of sellers with at least $1 billion in annual revenue revealed that the vast majority of businesses were already transitioning to digital assets. The survey, which was conducted by PYMNTS and Bitpay, found that 85% of merchants were looking to adopt crypto payments to expand their customer base.

In terms of merchant adoption, Goldi said those using crypto payments generally fall into two camps: crypto-natives and traditional merchants. Native crypto merchants “are used to dealing with crypto on a daily basis and most likely have vendors willing to accept crypto as payment,” he said. “Traditional merchants are curious and interested in leveraging crypto. They understand the benefits and are now trying to figure out how to incorporate the technology into their legacy systems.”