Outside Source
American venture capital firm Sequoia is set to make more than $100 million from Stripe’s acquisition of stablecoin platform Bridge. The deal reportedly cost Stripe $1.1 billion.
According to an Oct. 29 Bloomberg report, Sequoia and a number of other venture capital firms saw their investments in the crypto startup return a few times over. Sources familiar with the deal told Bloomberg that venture capitals are set to gain hundreds of millions of dollars from Stripe’s acquisition of stablecoin startup platform Bridge.
This is because Sequoia Capital owns nearly 16% of Bridge, according to multiple sources who asked not to be identified. Therefore, Sequoia’s share in the startup crypto platform is worth more than $100 million. This return largely overshadows Sequoia’s initial investment of $19 million, when it led Bridge’s Series A funding less than a year ago.
Stripe, the San Francisco-based payment processing company, agreed to buy Bridge for $1.1 billion on Oct 20. The large value of the acquisition shone a new hope for venture capitals interested in investing in crypto-related projects.
Sequioa is not the only venture capital firm that stands to gain millions from the Stripe acquisition. Another venture capital, Ribbit, owns nearly 10% of Bridge, which is worth almost $100 million. Other investors include Bedrock that owns more than 6%, Index owns 6%, and the venture firm Haun Ventures owns 4%.
Bridge is a three-year old startup that operates as a stablecoin platform. Stablecoins are digital currencies with a value that is pegged to stable assets, often the U.S. dollar or other fiat currencies. Their value remains stable, making them suitable for day-to-day transactions.
Despite being a relatively new platform, a source close to the deal told Bloomberg that Bridge achieved a run rate worth around $14 million and continues to accelerate. The source said Bridge’s rapid growth is what ultimately attracted Stripe into acquiring the startup for a whopping $1.1 billion.
Aside from the Bridge acquisition, Stripe has been known to show interest in other stablecoin projects. On Oct. 15, Stripe partnered with Paxos to include Circle’s USDC(USDC) stablecoin under its “Pay with Crypto” option. Through that partnership, merchants across 70 nations were able to make payments using the stablecoin.
In the past, Stripe has also been shown getting involved in the cryptocurrency sector through other initiatives. Previously, Stripe introduced payouts for creators on X via USDC. It also launched a fiat-to-crypto onramp service back in 2022.
This article first appeared at crypto.news
