Shift4 helps crypto fans blast off

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a day ago

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Space flight company Blue Origin recently started using payment processor Shift4 Payments' technology to let customers pay with digital assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, USDT and USDC, Shift4 said in a news release Monday.
"Crypto is now a $4 trillion asset class and the sky is the limit when it comes to its potential in the current payments ecosystem," Alex Wilson, the payment processor's head of crypto, said in the news release.
The $4 trillion figure was reported last month by outlets such as Bloomberg and Reuters.
Blue Origin, which is owned by billionaire tech titan Jeff Bezos, accepts payments through crypto wallets such as Coinbase and MetaMask, the release said.
Spokespeople for Allentown, Pennsylvania-based Shift4 and Blue Origin did not immediately respond to messages asking precisely when the space flight company, based in Kent, Washington, started accepting cryptocurrency.
Shift4's founder and executive chairman, Jared Isaacman, has traveled to space with rival company SpaceX, and was nominated to lead NASA before President Donald Trump abruptly rescinded the nomination in May. Isaacman has been a close associate of SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who was part of the Department of Government Efficiency in Trump's administration until he departed in May.
In 2021, Shift4 invested $27.5 million in SpaceX, also known as Space Exploration Technologies. The value of Shift4's unrealized gains on investments, primarily the ownership stake in SpaceX, declined to $12.2 million by 2023, down from $15.1 million the prior year, according to the company's annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last year. This year's annual filing excluded any mention of the SpaceX investment. A spokesperson for the company didn't immediately respond to a question about the status of the stake.
Crypto assets like bitcoin can be bought and traded like stocks and constantly surge and decline in value. Stablecoins, on the other hand, are tied to the value of a fiat currency, like the U.S. dollar, and are theoretically more stable in price.
Interest in digital currencies has accelerated in recent years, and was turbocharged by the passage of the Genius Act last month, which set a regulatory framework for using the digital assets and is seen as a boon for the crypto industry.
Cross-border payments have emerged as one of the most high-profile practical uses for stablecoins, but Wilson suggested the digital assets may also be used for expensive items.
"We believe crypto and stablecoins are going to become an increasingly popular way for consumers to pay, particularly for high-end purchases," he said in the news release.
Blue Origin does not publicly list its prices, but requires a down payment of $150,000 to reserve a seat on a suborbital space flight from its launch site near Van Horn, Texas.
A Dutch teenager paid $28 million at auction for a trip to space on the company's first manned flight in 2021, according to the New York Times. The company has also flown several celebrities, including pop singer Katy Perry, actor William Shatner and TV personality Gayle King. The flights last about 11 minutes.
Blue Origin has taken more than 75 people into space, Monday's news release said.
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