Bitcoin-Friendly Startup 'Stripe' Partners With Chinese Payment Apps Alipay, WeChat

China is leading the world in fintech adoption. In Asia’s Middle Kingdom, bitcoin markets and and mobile wallets are not considered niche millennial trends: They are widespread economic staples. Now a Silicon Valley startup called Stripe that enables digital payments, including bitcoin, unveiled a partnership with two of China’s most popular payment enablers over the weekend -- Alipay and WeChat.

This partnership could lead to a surge in international e-commerce, and someday even help integrate cryptocurrency into mainstream apps and shopping platforms.

Read: China Warms Up To Blockchain Currency, May Ditch Paper Money Altogether

Both Chinese partners help Stripe tap into a different section of the market. Alipay is a third-party online payment platform made by the Alibaba Group. It works kind of like PayPal, letting online retailers offer a speedy checkout without shoppers needing to enter their bank or credit card information. Instead, users just choose to pay with their Alipay accounts. Alipay claims to have 400 million users making around 175 million transactions every day. Alipay all but dominates the Chinese e-commerce market, which the BBC reported was worth $750 billion in 2016.

On the other hand, WeChat is a social media app, sometimes referred to as the Chinese version of Facebook. Facebook is still blocked in China, so WeChat users rely on the Chinese network for everything from messaging friends and posting pictures to playing video games and ordering food. WeChat also allows person-to-person payments, like Venmo or Plynk.

WeChat claims to have 938 million monthly users, making it one of China’s most popular apps with fintech features. Fast Company reported the mobile payments market in China is 28 times the size of the same multibillion-dollar industry in the United States. With their mobile wallet powers combined, the Stripe blog estimated these two partners represent 92 percent of the Chinese market.

This July announcement officially marked Stripe’s launch in Hong Kong. Stripe is looking to connect its users across 25 countries, including 100,000 business customers like Target, Lyft, Pinterest and Indiegogo, to China’s thriving marketplace. "If you are an internet business this unlocks a new vast customer base," Stripe co-founder John Collison told Reuters. "If we can help a business double their sales, then it doubles our revenue from that business."

Meanwhile, the Chinese partners boost access to foreign goods and services, which are increasingly popular among jet-setting Chinese shoppers. All three companies see this move as part of a wider push to globalize mobile wallets and e-commerce. Alipay and Stripe already had a burgeoning partnership in the U.S. The new deal makes that cooperation global.

Meanwhile, WeChat recently followed in the footsteps of Alipay’s in-store mobile payment services in Europe, by expanding WeChat’s options for European retailers. Even putting aside the lust for foreign products in China itself, Chinese tourists reportedly spent $261 billion while shopping abroad in 2016.

The partnership won’t instantly enable Chinese users to access all of Stripe’s merchants. It will still take a little longer for WeChat to move Stripe support from private beta to a recurring payment service for the general public, according to Wired. But the partnership’s potential presents a unique opportunity for worldwide retailers and bitcoin enthusiasts alike.

Read: Cryptocurrency Shopping Guide: How To Shop With Bitcoin

Cryptocurrency is all the rage in China, because Chinese bitcoin users dominates global bitcoin trading and mining. China doesn’t recognize bitcoin as legal tender. But the Chinese government is warming up to cryptocurrency and exploring ways to acknowledge global cryptocurrencies as digital assets. Now enter Stripe, a payments firm reportedly worth $9 billion, that allows online vendors to accept multiple currencies, including bitcoin, if they choose.

This fintech partnership represents a huge shift in globalized mobile wallets. Connecting China’s heavily regulated fintech market to foreign companies is one more step to breaking down economic borders. It also could pave the way for cryptocurrency to become a mainstream conduit for daily purchases. If anyone could make bitcoin shopping a widespread phenomena, it's the Chinese. This collaboration could be one of the biggest moves to bring fintech innovation to the masses so far this year.