Today's publication will be dedicated to the high-profile IPO in the field of fintech, which was made by Stripe.
She specializes in online payments and is working on services for paying salaries to employees. The issuer also tries to fight fraud.
Stripe is known as a payment platform or API for some corporations. It was also noted in startups and various public companies. The management of the corporation focuses on the cloud architecture so that the company is more reliable and secure.
Thanks to the cooperation with Stripe, companies have the opportunity to control their expenses, prevent any fraudulent manifestations and develop in an international direction using corporate credit cards or loans for small businesses. Such giants as Amazon, Google, Spotify and Microsoft cooperate with the issuer. Every year, Stripe spends tens of billions of US dollars through its payments.
Today it is the most expensive private company in the financial and technological sphere. It was founded by John and Patrick – the Collinson brothers. Their goal was to create a service that would make it easier for small and medium-sized businesses to process payments. They wanted to turn the idea of outdated banking systems around, taking into account the prevention of PayPal errors. Elon Musk, the founder of the latter, was the first to invest in Stripe.
In 2010, the world first heard about the company, but the impetus for this was the sale of the Shuppa company by the Collinson brothers in 2008. The latter produced software. The initial capital of $5 million was enough to start and attract the attention of Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel and Elon Musk himself, who added another $2 million. The official exit from the beta format and the launch of Stripe took place in 2011.
In 2012, representatives of Sequoia Capital invested $18 million in the company, which allowed it to enter the international market. A couple of years later, the brothers got $80 million, which gave them the opportunity to consolidate Stripe in 12 different countries around the world.
The payment service developed quite quickly and already in 2015 the company had $100 million on its account, and a year later $150 million. By 2017, when Stripe had $245 million in its account, almost all representatives of the financial sector knew it. After the company bought Paystack last year and TaxJar this year, it became more well-known.
Today, Stripe is valued at $80 billion, which is more than Facebook, Uber or even SpaceX before the IPO.
Not so long ago, the Stripe team completed a round of attracting investments, as a result of which it was possible to raise $600 million. For this money, the company will develop in the EU, India, as well as Brazil and Indonesia.
The listing is planned for the end of this year or the beginning of next year.
Read more: Listing of securities on the stock exchange
Sources of the company's income
To a large extent, Stripe generates commission income from the transaction. It is worth noting that the company processes about $100 billion annually. These commissions are distributed between online payments, personal payment terminals, accounts, subscriptions and connections for those customers who need to pay funds to third-party people. The company's money is also brought by Stripe Capital's business loans, as well as the Radar program for identifying fraudulent schemes.
Stripe's Competitors
PayPal and Square are the most important competitors of the company. Recall that the PayPal IPO, which took place in 2002, was estimated at $1.5 billion and until today this figure has grown to $360 billion. Since PayPal is considered a classic payment system, Stripe wins, because the company offers a more innovative set of services.
Square started its mobile payment processing business around the same time as Stripe. However, the latter is heading for online payments. Recall that Square's IPO was implemented in 2015, when the company managed to raise $243 million. Then it was estimated at $2.9 billion. By the end of 2021, the issuer's value should reach $120 billion, according to experts.
Let's see why it's worth investing in Stripe after the IPO.
Read more: IPO of a company - mechanism, examples & strategies
Stripe makes life easier
Before Stripe offered its services to the world, online payments from bank cards created a lot of problems for people. Back then, payment system providers had too complex integrations. The Collisons analyzed this and decided to change the situation.
Now just a few lines of code on the page of your website are enough to start working with online payments. Thus, Stripe managed to simplify the integration process as well as payment processing.
Integration
The company provides the possibility of integration into any online platform, which opens up many new opportunities for users. Stripe is friends with Squarespace, BigCommerce, as well as Memberful and Shopify. A person who does not understand anything about programming will be able to start cooperation with Stripe.
The pleasure and effectiveness of cooperation
It is important for any international company to maintain the level of quality of communication with customers, and the payment service provides customer support. Taking into account the fact that most people hardly understand the process of website development, and even more so payment processing, Stripe supports and thus retains its customers.
It is worth noting that Stripe works in such a way that users of any site do not notice it, while PayPal is visible during any payment process. If the seller cooperates with the latter, then you will be redirected to the PayPal page for payment and only after the successful implementation of the process will you be returned to the store page.
In the case of Stripe, payments are processed as transparently as possible.
Read more: How to participate in an IPO
Staff
Stripe managers managed to create a self-regulating recruitment system. We are talking about Sunday tests for people who want to work in the company. In the process of passing this test, you need to answer questions about whether an existing team member is ready to work with the candidate on the weekend. If not, the search continues.
This allows the team to be more cohesive and work more efficiently.
Experts say that after the IPO, Stripe will be able to take a serious place in the fintech sector and delight shareholders with success.
In another interpretation, it is also called lovers' day. But, in the end, what difference does it make, the root is one - love! And love, as the poet said, all Forex is submissive! Did the poet say something wrong? Well, it's just that there was no forex back then, he would have corrected himself…Have you ever wondered what there might be in common between FOREX and SEX (except ending, of course)? It is worth imagining a little and you can draw an analogy to almost any concept or action on forex and find an association! There are no minors here, so I suggest in honor of the thematic holiday to have a little fun and spend a sexy ten-minute. We will not use Viagra, since all of us here are full of energy, enthusiasm and ready for sexual and trading exploits. Well, who is not ready, and Viagra will not help much…Virtual sex trade on demo. In virtual sex, you can imagine yourself (and introduce yourself online) as anyone. Even Brad Pitt, even Antonio Banderas, and even Britney Spears. You will flirt, seduce, imagine how cool you are. And the real result at the output is zero point zero! And so you decided to return to reality and set up a live date with your chosen one. And then a bummer! Instead of a long-legged beauty, a hairy, sweaty man comes to you on a date. And his name is disgusting - Margin Call!Market analysis is a prelude. Good preparation (foreplay) is the key to good sex! You will not wait until the partner is in the right condition at the beginning, it will be difficult to bring him to the desired result in the end! The main thing in this case is not to rush! Do not proceed to the main part of the Marlaison ballet if your partner has not yet matured. Watch him, try to understand his mood, feel when he is ready for action. And only after that – full speed ahead!Love is the key to great sex and a cure for frigidity and impotence! Without love, sex is bland, boring and uninteresting. And with her, he looks like an atomic bomb explosion! Do you like the market? If not, then don't expect reciprocity. You have to love the market. And only then will he respond to your courtship.If you have spontaneous sex, it's trading on the news. Look-spark-discharge! An irresistible desire to do IT here and now. You want her, she wants you. Feelings are strained to the limit, a shiver runs through your bodies, unable to restrain yourself any longer, you grab her in your arms and enter ... into a deal. And then... then, how lucky! Either you thank me for the incomparable impressions, or you curse yourself for what the world is worth, and you think – why did I fall for her at all?? But you have time to grab your portion of adrenaline in any case!There is no need to be afraid of sex for money – trading on signals. It's great - you don't have to do anything special! Professionals will do everything for you. Well, really, it's if good professionals. Sit (lie down) – get high! Well, what remains if someone does not work out for love? At least once, but it's worth a try, for comparison. However, the question arises, who uses whom – you or you? Therefore, it is better still for love! A thousand times more colors and impressions.So. Well, what do you say to getting a stop – a sexual fiasco? I tried, I did everything right, but it didn't work out at all! At the most inopportune and crucial moment, this unpredictable creature says – "And the ceiling is not painted!" And turns in the other direction… There remains a feeling of resentment and dissatisfaction. I really want to play everything back and try again. But time has passed and the train is already far away…The initiative to change the pose is usually welcome. Especially if nothing works out in the usual one. Pose is a fundamental concept in Kama Sutra and forex! Each of us, of course, at least once in his life looked at the positions of the Kama Sutra (who did not do it – it's never too late to start sexual experiments). However, some poses (especially beginners) need to be looked upside down in order to understand what kind of intricacy of arms and legs there is, and to catch at least some sense in such tricks! You need to have good flexibility and a rich imagination to execute some particularly bold positions. A natural question arises: is it worth it? You can get out and pervert yourself as you like, but it does not always bring the expected pleasure. Exotic poses can numb your arms and legs, and you won't get a profit! Very rarely aggressive attempts like "lock", "stop-flip" and "averaging" help to achieve trading ecstasy!And, of course, tune in to get a profit! Profit is akin to orgasm. You've fallen in love, they don't seem to be chasing you either. There came a moment X when you decided it was time to do IT. You showed patience and endurance, studied the habits and characteristics of the object of lust – and the foreplay was a bang! And if in the main part of the process you were able to feel each other, be attentive to the little things, take your time, then a mutual orgasm will not take long to wait! My deepest conviction is that there are no cold women, as well as bad markets. There are bad lovers. And illiterate traders.Contraception is the most important thing in sex. And in forex. Protect yourself, protect yourself and protect yourself again! Not sure about choosing the right partner? Don't know what to expect from him? Stay out of the market on the fence. And if you decide to get involved - be sure to follow the rules of money management! We are for safe sex!Adventures in sex and forex do not lead to anything good. Promiscuous sex life did not bring anyone to good. Casual sex, as well as a casual transaction – if without consequences, then there will be something to remember with a smile in old age. And if with the consequences, you will have to be treated for a long time, and it is very likely that you will not restore the deposit. It depends on what you get sick with… 
Sri Lanka (an island nation in southern Asia) has literally run out of gasoline and diesel fuel. India will provide assistance. Fuel from neighbors will arrive in the country in mid-July.India has been helping Sri Lanka for 3 months. During this time, 400,000 tons of fuel were shipped. For comparison, in the USA, more than 17 million tons are spent per day. So stocks in Sri Lanka go only for the most necessary.At gas stations, gasoline is issued by coupons, if at all. Electricity is periodically cut off. The workers were transferred to a 4-day week. The authorities recommend spending free time in vegetable gardens. But the food, apparently, will have to be eaten raw (or fried on a fire) — gas is also in short supply.How did the fuel crisis happen in Sri Lanka in 2022?The country is going through the worst crisis since 1948. Sri Lanka faced a default (not like in Russia, but with the present). Payments have been stopped on all bonds and bilateral loans.It all started with a pandemic. Due to the coronavirus, the country was left without tourists (more than 10% of GDP). The inflow of foreign currency has decreased. Ceylon tea has not grown due to the ban on the import of chemical fertilizers. Another source of foreign currency has disappeared.Sri Lanka's external debt has exceeded $50 billion. Inflation has exceeded 50%. Fuel debt to other countries is more than $700 million. The crisis is accompanied by hunger. The main food product - rice has risen in price by 93%, lentils - by 117%. Other countries supply humanitarian aid with food, but this does not relieve tension: protests against the government have been going on in the country for several months, there are victims and dead on both sides. 
The "pearl in the crown of Switzerland" and one of the richest banks in the country, Credit Suisse, is again at the center of a scandal: the company was fined 2 million francs for legalizing the proceeds from international cocaine trafficking.As it turned out, the capital of the Bulgarian mafia was stored in Credit Suisse. From 2004 to 2008, the bank conducted transactions for 146 million francs, with a third brought in cash in suitcases.The money belonged to Bulgarian drug dealers led by Evelyn "Brando" Banev, a former athlete and developer. All operations were carried out by the Customer relations manager Elena Pampulova-Bergomi.Brendo has been accused of drug trafficking, organizing murders and money laundering since 2007. He faces 20 years in prison in Italy and 6 in Bulgaria.He has been successfully hiding for the last seven years. It turned out that the cocaine king had been living in Eastern Europe all this time using forged documents. But in the autumn of 2021, he was detained near Kiev and extradited to his homeland.Was Credit Suisse aware of the mafia's affairs?The bank knew about Banev's crimes, but continued to cooperate with him, Pampulova-Bergomi believes. The girl herself quit the company in 2010.At the same time, representatives of Credit Suisse assure that the businessman earned money on construction, and do not admit guilt. But this did not convince law enforcement: a Swiss court sentenced Pampulova-Bergomi to 20 months in prison and a fine. And Credit Suisse will take away 12 million francs received from the bandits, and 19 million francs of compensation.It's not the first time the bank has been caughtCredit Suisse often gets into the criminal chronicle. What else did Switzerland's second largest bank do?He bought gold in Nazi Germany during World War II, and after the war he did not give money from the accounts of the deceased to the legitimate heirs. As a result, he paid $1.25 billion to the Holocaust Victims Fund to hush up the scandal.For decades, he helped residents of the United States, Brazil and Germany to evade taxes. Several bank employees were jailed, and the company paid a $2.6 billion fine.He issued loans to state-owned companies in Mozambique for "kickbacks" to bankers and local officials. As a result, a fine of $475 million had to be paid for bribery and fraud.He laundered money of politicians and oligarchs from Belarus, Ukraine, Spain, Jordan, Russia and other countries. The full list was compiled in 2022 after a major leak of documents.However, the verdict on mafia money laundering is a turning point for Switzerland, says Mark Pit, an expert at the University of Basel. After all, Credit Suisse is not just a company, but the second largest bank in the country, which manages assets worth $ 1.6 trillion.Perhaps the Swiss authorities will strengthen control over banks to avoid such scandals. But it is possible that Credit Suisse will get off with a fine again. 
The Nasdaq Composite index has already lost more than 30% since the beginning of the year. And according to Alan Greenspan, the iconic chairman of the Fed, if the stock market falls by 30-40% in a few weeks or months, then it's a bubble.So, what's in our yard? Maybe this is the dotcom 2.0 crisis?The Dotcom Bubble in 2000: How the market collapsed 20 years agoFrom 1995 to 2001, the stock market was overwhelmed by a wave of HYPE associated with the development of the Internet. Numerous Internet startups with "brilliant business ideas" and a complete lack of net profit began to enter the IPO. But investors were ready to invest long-term.In 2001, the NASDAQ index collapsed, the so-called "dotcom bubble" burst. This was provoked by two factors:The crisis in Japan provoked an outflow of Japanese investors from the American stock market - in particular, from dot-coms.It turned out that for 5 years, many Internet projects have not learned how to generate profit, but at the same time they coped well with spending money on advertising their own brand. News about bankruptcies and criminal cases involving blatantly fraudulent schemes began to appear more and more often.As a result, the bursting of the bubble in 2002 was followed by a short recession. Even strong companies have suffered huge losses, losing a significant part of their market value. However, later most were able to recover - for example, Amazon, Ebay, Yahoo (now owned by Verizon).What does the bubble of 2000 have in common with today?Behind any bubble there is a new idea, a myth. This is usually facilitated by the aggressive growth of some technology and a burning belief in it. There is talk of a "new world" and a "new economy". Then, at the end of the 90s, the shares of companies with the cherished ".com" in their names flew away like hot cakes. Approximately the same thing is happening today, only the "fetishes" are new: "crypto", "green", "IT projects".During the bubble inflating period, the value of shares significantly exceeds the fundamental indicators of the company. During the dot-com era, investors were willing to buy the securities of unprofitable companies for the long term. Economists also echoed them - "these are growth stocks", "a new economy has come." Even today, investors, looking at the success stories of American big techs like Google or Facebook, are trying to find promising companies without bothering much with their fundamental assessment.Inflating the bubble is greatly facilitated by the influx of cheap money into the economy. There is an opinion that in the 90s the Fed contributed to the dot-com crisis by maintaining a low interest rate: investors had a lot of extra money that went to the stock market. In the 2000s, the key rate, on the contrary, was sharply raised - so the market "deflated".Despite the fact that now there is an order of magnitude more money poured into the economy than in the late 90s, because then there was no "quantitative easing" in sight. And the "low" Fed rate of that time, 5%, does not look so low: today it is about 1%.In addition, inflation in the period 1995-2000 was in the range of 1.5-3.5%, while now it is above 8%.All this suggests sad thoughts: the dotcom bubble of 2001, compared with the impending crisis, may seem like a burst balloon against the background of the big bang. 
In 2019, the "sub-sanctioned" Iran began to increase oil supplies in circumvention of sanctions. Mostly tankers went to China and the Mediterranean: Syria and Turkey. And by the beginning of 2022, the fleet for transporting sanctioned Iranian and Venezuelan oil had tripled. It accounted for approximately 400 million barrels per year. And such a "ghost armada" successfully undermines the business of transport companies.Why did Iranian tankers get such a name?Last year, The Mail on Sunday reported: 123 Iranian vessels circumvent sanctions on oil trade. They change their location to GPS and create the appearance that they are anchored at sea, but at this time they are loading/unloading at the port. They also actively forge documents, use flags of different countries, disable identification systems and use front companies. Oil is often loaded onto several vessels and mixed before reaching its destination. This is also the case with "toxic" Russian oil.At the same time, Iran has a whole "underground" financial system for trade bypassing sanctions, writes the WSJ. It includes accounts in foreign banks, intermediary companies outside the country and firms that coordinate prohibited trade. The annual turnover is estimated at tens of billions of dollars.And Iranian banks attract affiliated firms to manage trade under sanctions. They register "daughters" outside the country, become trusted for Iranian traders, and then trade with foreign buyers of Iranian oil in foreign currency through accounts in foreign banks.Will the "Iranian Armada" help Russia?She is already helping her to circumvent sanctions, writes the Daily Mail. The international non-profit organization United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) accuses the Iranian navy of cooperating with Russian oil companies. Allegedly, Russian oilmen are using "Tehran's black market vessels" to circumvent the export ban. And the US, the EU and the UK are even calling for the formation of a team of "ghostbusters".At least 5 Iranian "ghost armadas" are transporting oil from Russia to China and India, according to UANI. And recently, the WSJ reported that Zamanoil from the UAE was linking Iranian and Russian oil workers. The US Treasury accused her of working with the Russian government and Rosneft on the supply of Iranian oil to Europe.However, at the end of March, Iran denied a "secret offer from Russia" to help it circumvent sanctions in exchange for support in concluding a nuclear deal. And in May, he noted that he could not be a competitor of Russia in the global oil and gas market. The country has its own regular customers, and Iran sells the maximum amount of oil.So officially, Iran does not seem to be planning to use its "army of ghosts" to help for the benefit of Russia, despite the fact that these countries have "converged" before. But then there was no question of an embargo on Russian oil and there was no ban on ship insurance. In the new reality, the actions of the "ghost armada" are quite difficult to predict. 
Today, on June 9, Ethereum developers informed the community about the successful merger of the oldest Ethereum Ropsten test network using the Proof-of-Work algorithm with the Beacon test network using the Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm, which was one of the final test steps before the full update of the Ethereum 2.0 network.Repeated testing of the chain with Proof-of-Stake, according to the developers, will allow for a secure merger of the existing blockchain with a new version of the block network and obtain a single effective Erhereum blockchain that will not have existing problems and will open the way for the introduction of innovative ideas in the development of a decentralized financial system and the digital economy as a whole.Before the full launch of Ethereum 2.0 with the deployment of PoS, two more mergers of the Beacon network with the Goerli and Seoplia test networks are planned.The final implementation of PoS in the Ethereum blockchain, according to co-founder Vitalik Buterin, should take place in August of this year.The market reacted sluggishly to the technologically important event that took place, and investors did not show high purchasing activity.Ethereum is trading at around $1,800 with no spikes in volatility.The acute foreign policy and macroeconomic situation today has a greater impact on the mood of investors seeking to preserve their capital than the prospect of future income.Therefore, analysts do not predict a surge in volatility even with the full completion of the Ethereum 2.0 update. Volatility may arise, perhaps, only if problems arise in the network that can affect user incomes. 
Duties on the import of solar cells have been canceled. On Monday, President Biden declared a state of emergency in the United States. The reason is not a natural disaster, as one might think, but the threat of a shortage of electricity. It, in turn, is associated with a shortage of production capacity, according to the White House.The reaction of the United States - until the emergency regime is lifted for the next two years, duty-free import into the United States of "some solar cells and modules" of batteries imported from Southeast Asian countries is allowed.Is the "solar sector" growing?After the release of such news, shares of companies engaged in solar energy reacted with growth. It was strongest in the shares of solar panel installers: Sunrun (RUN) and Sunnova Energy International (NOVA) jumped by more than 10%.But not everyone in the industry was happy about what was happening. First Solar (FSLR), a major manufacturer of solar panels from the United States, said that the tariff freeze will provide unhindered market access to Chinese companies, which the state will subsidize over the next two years. As a result, the company grew by only 4%.What will change after the removal of duties?Such support from the US government stimulates activity in the industry, easing some uncertainty in prices, but does not solve important problems.The renewable energy (RES) industry is particularly vulnerable to the rising interest rates that are currently taking place in the United States. In particular, renewable energy for residential premises requires loans for financing. That is, now it becomes more expensive to install solar panels. In addition, against the background of uncertainty in the market, investors are shifting their money to safer fixed-income assets - which means that "solar companies" risk attracting less money.According to the WSJ, about two-thirds of "solar projects" in the United States planned for 2022 may be postponed or canceled, which clouds the prospects. This is due to the fact that utility companies are facing an increase in the cost of loans and a shortage of goods needed to conserve solar energy (batteries).How will the abolition of duties affect the renewable energy industry?Western countries are trying to move away from classical energy sources as much as possible, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine only accelerates this process. The decision to remove duties by the US government is positive for the industry, but does not solve the underlying problems. 
The governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, said that bitcoin is impractical as a means of payment. While cryptocurrencies are not being calculated massively. But today, large companies not only use blockchain, but also accept crypto as payment:Coca-Cola. In 2020, the corporation's Asia-Pacific division announced that it would allow customers in Australia and New Zealand to buy drinks with bitcoin and other coins. Payment is available through devices that accept digital payments.PayPal is the first payment system to add cryptocurrency for transactions. The company acts as an intermediary: the service will exchange cryptocurrency for ordinary dollars at the internal exchange rate, which already includes the cost of conversion.Visa and Mastercard, following PayPal, thought about the possibility of conducting transactions with cryptocurrencies. The systems focus on stablecoins, which have collateral in the form of real assets.Shopify is a platform for creating online stores. Thanks to the developers, the owners of these stores can accept cryptocurrency.Emirates. The airline from the UAE intends to accept bitcoins as payment. Moreover, Emirates will add its own NFT tokens to the site. This is not the first airline operating with cryptocurrencies. Latvian airBaltic has been selling tickets for the crypt for several years.Balenciaga, Gucci, Tag Heuer are also starting to accept cryptocurrency. Moreover, the new payment method will be available not only online, but also in regular stores using QR codes. And the first major retailer that started accepting the crypt was Overstock.Brazilian developer Gafisa announced that now an apartment can be bought for bitcoins. So the company wants to attract investors from other countries, and the cryptocurrency helps to transfer funds quickly and safely.