I personally think stuff like this should be made as protocols and done in the open instead

Stripe's valuation depends on this implementation mechanism, capturing the platform as an economic intermediary versus championing open protocols.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2026/03/17/why-an-u...

(TLDR Stripe's valuation [$159B] is ~5x Adyen's [which is public, allowing for use as a comp] for somewhat similar payment volumes [$1.9T vs $1.6T, respectively], so Stripe is trying to grow into the valuation current fundamentals do not support)