Alchemy Pay, a prominent payment gateway, has recently unveiled a strategic alliance with Lido, a decentralized staking protocol. This partnership signifies a significant move towards connecting traditional finance with the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector by introducing a fiat on-ramp for Lido’s stETH token.
With this collaboration, users from around the globe can now effortlessly buy and sell stETH using their preferred payment methods and local fiat currencies. The primary goal of this partnership is to enhance the overall user experience by integrating Alchemy Pay’s efficient on and off-ramp services within Lido’s ecosystem, enabling seamless transactions and improving accessibility to stETH.
StETH is the liquid variant of staked ETH that accumulates daily staking rewards. This integration plays a crucial role in encouraging the use of stETH in various DeFi activities, such as providing liquidity on protocols like Curve and serving as collateral for loans on Aave.
Alchemy Pay’s payment gateway supports a wide range of payment methods, including Visa and Mastercard transactions across 173 countries, as well as Apple Pay, Google Pay, domestic transfers, and mobile wallets in emerging markets. This extensive support ensures global accessibility for Lido users and offers high conversion rates with minimal fees for acquiring stETH.
In addition to facilitating easy access to stETH, Alchemy Pay has obtained multiple licenses related to payment services in various countries, such as the UK, the United States, Canada, Indonesia, and Lithuania, with additional licenses being pursued in Hong Kong and Singapore. Recognized by Visa and Mastercard as an authorized third-party service provider, Alchemy Pay adheres to strict compliance and regulatory standards, establishing itself as a reliable fiat-crypto payment gateway.
Lido’s innovative decentralized staking approach allows users to mint transferable staking tokens and receive rewards based on validator activities on Ethereum and Polygon networks. With total staked tokens reaching $29.7 billion, Lido is leading the way in promoting secure and decentralized staking solutions.
The collaboration between Alchemy Pay and Lido goes beyond just a technical integration; it represents a step towards a more interconnected and accessible blockchain ecosystem. By enabling easy and secure access to stETH through familiar payment methods, Alchemy Pay and Lido are paving the way for wider adoption of DeFi practices and enhancing the utility of staked assets.