In early February 2026, Stripe, a payment processing company headquartered in Ireland and the United States, revealed significant growth in its annual letter published by founders Patrick and John Collison. The letter disclosed that businesses using Stripe had collectively generated $1.9 trillion in transaction volume during 2025, marking a notable 34% increase from the previous year. Despite this impressive growth and a new valuation of $159 billion, which rose from $106 billion the prior year, the company has not made indications of pursuing a public offering anytime soon. Stripe is also known for its profitability, which provides them the flexibility to invest heavily in product development, exemplified by more than 350 product updates over the past year and multiple strategic acquisitions, including entities focused on blockchain and stablecoin technologies. This diverse range of investments reflects Stripe's commitment to meeting the demands of the evolving marketplace, particularly in the realms of cryptocurrency and real-world payments. In addition to its financial initiatives, the letter highlighted Stripe's collaborative project called Tempo, a blockchain infrastructure for stablecoins developed together with venture capital firm Paradigm. Tempo aims to enhance real-world economic activities by providing innovative payment solutions, and it has begun attracting attention from major corporations such as Visa and Shopify for their various financial applications, including global payouts and remittances. The Collison brothers are optimistic about the future, recognizing the potential of agentic AI in commerce and the stability of the stablecoin market, which has reportedly doubled to $400 billion in volume in 2025.