Stripe

Stripe has announced an enhancement to its financial infrastructure by integrating custodial wallets within Privy, further solidifying its commitment to enabling programmable money management at scale. This change is set to benefit a range of users including public companies and financial institutions who are increasingly adopting stablecoins as part of their payment infrastructure.

Key Features of Custodial Wallets in Privy:

• Single API Integration: Users can access wallet infrastructure, key management, and licensed custody through one unified API.
• Flexible Custody Models: Teams can choose different custody models per wallet, product, or region, offering adaptability to specific needs without the requirement for extensive rebuilding.
• Added Regulatory Assurance: Custodial wallets provide clear controls and a regulatory framework that aligns with existing asset management practices, aiding businesses transition into the realm of digital assets.

Why This Matters

This addition allows builders and developers to streamline their operations while embracing cryptocurrency in a compliant and secure manner, ultimately driving innovation in payment processing and digital asset management.

Stripe Atlas has reached a significant milestone by now incorporating 1 in 4 Delaware corporations. This achievement coincides with a broader trend in Delaware, where incorporations surged by 32% year-over-year in January, up from 18% the previous year. This growth illustrates a robust interest in business formation facilitated by Stripe Atlas.

Key Details:

• Major Milestone: Stripe Atlas now accounts for 25% of all Delaware corporations.
• Record Growth: Incorporations in Delaware increased by 32% year-over-year in January.
• Historical Month: January marked the largest month ever for incorporations through Stripe Atlas, prompting internal checks on data accuracy due to the high volume.

This surge in incorporation indicates a rising trend among entrepreneurs opting for Stripe Atlas as a trusted service for business formation. By streamlining the process, Stripe Atlas is helping more businesses thrive, particularly in an established business-friendly jurisdiction like Delaware. This growth not only benefits startups but also signifies a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem supported by innovative tools like Stripe Atlas.

Stripe has unveiled an innovative approach to software development with the introduction of its new coding agents, dubbed "Minions." These AI-driven helpers are revolutionizing the way software engineering operates within the company, merging over 1,300 pull requests each week, all of which are still subject to human review.

Key Details:

• AI Coding Agents: Minions are Stripe's homegrown AI agents designed to assist in software development.
• Efficiency: They currently handle a significant volume of pull requests — over 1,300 each week.
• Human Oversight: Every merged pull request undergoes human review, ensuring quality control despite the lack of human-written code.
• Development Transparency: A detailed blog post explaining the creation and functionality of Minions is available here.

Why It Matters:

This development highlights Stripe's commitment to leveraging AI in software engineering, significantly increasing development speed while maintaining high standards of quality. As builders and developers face increasing demands for rapid deployment and iteration, such innovations represent a critical step forward in optimizing programming workflows.

In its latest report, Stripe addresses the growing complexities of selling across borders, highlighting significant changes in tax laws that affect international trade. The report outlines various new updates and mandates from different countries that retailers and businesses need to be aware of to remain compliant in 2025.

Key Highlights from the Report:

• U.S. Sales Tax Changes: Over 400 sales tax rate changes have been implemented across U.S. states in the first half of 2025, complicating interstate commerce.
• De Minimis Exemption Changes: U.S. retailers will lose the de minimis exemption on low-value shipments, influencing pricing strategies.
• Brazil's VAT Reform: A dual VAT reform is coming into effect that will require nonresident companies to register locally for tax purposes.
• Mandatory Electronic Invoicing: France, Poland, and Belgium will implement mandatory electronic invoicing for B2B transactions starting in 2026, aimed at closing VAT gaps.
• Thailand Duty Exemption Changes: Duty exemptions for imports valued at $1,500 and below have been abolished.
• Philippines VAT on Digital Services: The Philippines has introduced a 12% VAT on digital services such as streaming and SaaS products.

This report underscores the importance for builders and developers involved in cross-border selling to stay updated on these regulatory changes. Understanding these developments can help businesses adapt their strategies in compliance with evolving tax regulations globally. Read the full report here.

Stripe has unveiled an innovative solution for developers: Minions, their homegrown coding agents designed to automate tasks effectively and enhance productivity. These unattended agents are capable of producing thousands of pull requests each week, significantly contributing to the coding landscape at Stripe.

Key Features of Minions:

• Unattended Operation: Minions operate without human intervention, allowing for streamlined processes.
• High Volume Output: Over a thousand pull requests merged weekly are produced solely by these coding agents.
• Human Oversight: While the code generated by Minions is human-reviewed, it contains no human-written code, maintaining efficiency and consistency.
• Task Parallelization: Engineers can deploy multiple Minions simultaneously, enabling them to manage several tasks in parallel, especially beneficial during on-call rotations.

Importance for Developers:

This advancement addresses the increasing demand for developer attention by automating routine coding tasks, allowing engineers to focus on more complex challenges. The use of Minions exemplifies how companies can leverage technology to enhance team efficiency and throughput in software development.

For further details, you can read the full blog post here.

Stripe has unveiled a preview of its machine payments feature, designed for developers to directly charge autonomous agents with ease. This innovative approach allows businesses to embrace a new category of users, the autonomous agents, and adapt their payment processes accordingly.

Key Details of Machine Payments:

• Microtransactions: Suitably designed for low-value transactions.
• 24/7 Global Rails: Continuous operation enables round-the-clock transactions.
• Controls: Mechanisms are in place, ensuring human oversight is streamlined.
• Low Latency: Fast transaction processing is essential for efficient operations.
• HTTP Native: Optimized for current web standards.
• Finality Guarantees: Enhances transaction security and confidence.

Businesses can now utilize the Stripe PaymentIntents API to accept payments from machines, facilitating usages such as API access, MCP calls, or HTTP requests under tailored pricing plans alongside traditional subscriptions and invoices. The process involves:

1. Creating a PaymentIntent.
2. Stripe generates a unique transaction address.
3. The agent receives the address to send funds or a payment token.
4. Tracking transaction status through the API or Dashboard.
5. Funds settle in the default balance seamlessly.

Currently, this feature supports x402 using USDC stablecoins on Base, with plans for expanding to more protocols and payment methods. Additionally, Stripe has released an open-source CLI tool called purl to support testing machine payments in terminal environments, along with sample codes for Node and Python. Developers are encouraged to check the documentation and sign up for the preview to explore this transformative capability.

Stripe is evolving its offerings to cater to a broader audience, emphasizing an improved developer experience that now includes various types of users beyond traditional developers.

In a recent post, Michelle Bu shared insights from her 12 years at Stripe, highlighting the changing landscape of who qualifies as a "developer." The company is shifting its focus to accommodate:

• Large Language Models (LLMs): Tools and features tailored for AI developers.
• Founders and Non-Technical Users: Simplified interfaces and resources targeting those without coding experience.
• Operators and Their Agents: Enhanced functionalities to support tasks like issuing refunds efficiently.

These updates reflect Stripe's commitment to inclusivity in tech, demonstrating an understanding of the diverse needs in the industry today. By addressing such a wide array of users, Stripe enables builders and developers to create and manage their services more effectively, regardless of their technical background.

OpenRouter provides more than 5 million developers access to hundreds of AI models through a single API. Stripe will power OpenRouter’s payments, tax compliance, and invoicing, handling the platform’s financial operations.

Gamma, a platform used by 70 million people for AI-driven presentations, has recently crossed $100 million in annual recurring revenue. CEO Grant Lee highlighted how Stripe's financial infrastructure, including Checkout, Billing, and Invoicing, supports Gamma's rapid expansion across various customer segments.

Gamma credits Stripe as a vital partner in their rapid growth journey from pre-revenue to a $2.1 billion valuation in just two years. Utilizing Stripe's solutions like Checkout, Billing, Invoicing, and Link has been integral as Gamma scales its operations globally.

Stripe is working with Microsoft to power in-chat shopping in Copilot for US users, enabling purchases from Etsy, Urban Outfitters, and Anthropologie without leaving the chat.

Over 1,100 Irish students took part in the 62nd Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2026. Winner Aoibheann Daly developed an AI tool to help doctors better diagnose brain cancer from MRI scans. Projects ranged from theoretical physics simulations to acoustic systems for livestock protection. Notable past winners include Sarah Flannery and Stripe cofounders Patrick and John Collison.

Stripe launched the Stripe.js testing assistant for in-browser integration, testing, and debugging of Stripe Elements. Features include autofill of Elements to test payment methods and scenarios, simulated checkout with locale-based payment availability, and inline integration error/warning surfacing. Available now for businesses using Elements with the CheckoutSession API; broader integration coverage coming soon.

Stripe now powers usage-based billing for Lovable Cloud and Lovable AI, providing global payments and billing infrastructure. The partnership, active from day one, lets Lovable focus on scaling its no-code platform and AI offerings while Stripe handles billing.

Stripe has completed its acquisition of Metronome. Metronome’s metering engine, already used by companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, and NVIDIA, will be integrated into Stripe Billing. Stripe says usage-based models will be a defining industry shift and intends to combine metering with billing capabilities.

Stewart Brand’s Maintenance: Of Everything, Part One is published. The post highlights Albe De Coker’s application of Brand’s philosophy: weekly machine maintenance, automated 22mm spine binding with sensors and a carousel for hinge work, manual feeding for foil‑blocked covers, a 48‑hour sheet set time, and hand‑packing of final volumes.

Stripe now powers Higgsfield’s checkout, billing, and new creator marketplace across six countries. Higgsfield says Stripe’s enterprise-grade payments enable multiple payment methods, cross-market operations, and business-model evolution.

Stripe is bringing Build Day to New York City on January 28 with Alex Atallah, CEO of OpenRouter. OpenRouter — a primary API router for AI builders — serves 4M+ users and processes 500B+ tokens daily, highlighting a shift toward usage-based models. The event includes coworking, 1:1 product support, and live demos of Stripe’s latest products.

MiniMax integrated Stripe’s entire financial stack—from Payments to Tax—in two weeks, freeing hundreds of engineering hours for model development. Approximately 40% of MiniMax pay-ins are processed via Stripe. The company shared candid feedback for improving Link and emphasized AI as a unifying force as it scales to users in 100+ countries.

Stripe-terraform is now available to manage Stripe resources as code—versionable, reviewable, and easy to diff. It integrates with AI tools: for example, you can ask an AI (like Cursor) to generate Terraform to create a pro-tier pricing plan with a 15% annual discount, then review and apply the generated Terraform.