The Infrastructure Landscape Has Changed

Payment infrastructure stayed relatively unchanged for a decade. Then suddenly, everything shifted. The old playbook of building traditional payment rails is dying.

TLDR:

• PayPal's betting big on their own stablecoin (PYUSD)

• Stripe dropped $1.1B on Bridge (biggest crypto acquisition to date)

• Transaction volumes are exploding (we'll get to the numbers)

Check out my full 2025 FinTech <> Crypto Report here

PayPal's Play: Own The Stack

PayPal used to focus on consumer payments. Now they're not just dipping their toes in. They're diving headfirst into the deep end. Their strategy? Build everything in-house.

Paypal’s stack—

• $25k/week sending limit to external wallets

• $100k/week buying limit

• 5 supported cryptocurrencies (including their own PYUSD)

• Full-service trading platform

• External wallet integration

But here's what's interesting: While everyone's focused on their stablecoin, PayPal's quietly building out serious institutional muscle. Their investment in Chaos Labs (alongside Galaxy and Uniswap) shows they're thinking way beyond retail and building serious institutional infrastructure.

Stripe's Counter Move: Be The Infrastructure

While PayPal's building their own crypto empire, Stripe's taking a different approach: They want to be the picks and shovels of the crypto gold rush.

While PayPal builds vertically, Stripe is going horizontal.

Stripe’s stack—

• Multiple currency support across ETH, Solana, Polygon

• $10k per transaction limit

• Built-in KYC/AML that actually works

• Developer-first APIs

• Professional services division

That $1.1B Bridge acquisition? It's not just about the tech - it's about handling complex payment flows involving multiple parties. Classic Stripe: solve the hard problems first.

Why This Matters

Here's the thing: Both approaches are working, just for different reasons.

PayPal's capturing the retail wave, while Stripe's becoming the go-to for crypto-native businesses.

The marginal cost of building crypto infrastructure used to be astronomical. You needed specialized teams, complex compliance frameworks, and robust security systems.

Now these rails are becoming commoditized. This forces everyone to be more intentional with their strategy.

I actually think this is a great thing.

The opportunity isn't in building basic rails anymore—it's in the gaps they’re leaving open:

1. Mid-market solutions (both are targeting opposite ends)

2. Cross-chain infrastructure (they're still mostly single-chain)

3. Compliance tooling (especially for smaller players)

What's Next?

Watch for these moves in Q1:

• PayPal expanding institutional services

• Stripe releasing post-Bridge products

• Both pushing into cross-chain infrastructure

If you're building in this space, now's the time to position yourself. The infrastructure play is getting crowded, but there's still room for specialized solutions that solve real problems.

How Can I Help?

Catalyst helps fintech companies build thought leadership that drives growth. Let's talk about your strategy. Hit reply if you want to grab coffee and dive deeper—always down to chat fintech, crypto, and content strategy.

Will