Online payments firm Stripe was established by Limerick brothers Patrick and John Collison (Ireland). In 2014 the company became the first major payments company to support Bitcoin payments. Stripe said they are winding down support for Bitcoin payments and plan to stop processing Bitcoin transactions on April 23, 2018. According to the blog of the company, “Bitcoin has evolved to become better-suited to being an asset than being a means of exchange”. They stay optimistic about cryptocurrencies and say that can “add support for Stelar if substantive use continues to grow”.