Outside Source
Fintech giant Stripe has finalized a deal to acquire stablecoin platform Bridge for $1.1 billion.
This purchase marks the largest acquisition in the crypto industry to date.
Record $1.1 Billion Deal
TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington revealed the news in a post on X, stating, “This deal is done. $1.1b.”
Bridge, co-founded by Sean Yu and Zach Abrams, provides software tools enabling businesses to accept payments in stablecoins. The platform allows companies to create, store, send, and receive such assets.
Zach Abrams previously served as Head of Consumer at Coinbase and founded the peer-to-peer payments company Evenly, which was later acquired by Square. Before co-founding Bridge, Sean Yu held key engineering roles at major companies such as Coinbase, Square, DoorDash, and Airbnb.
Earlier this year, the startup received $58 million in funding from prominent investors, including Sequoia, Haun Ventures, Ribbit, and Index Ventures. According to Forbes, this included a $40 million Series A funding round that valued the company at $200 million. It means that Stripe’s $1.1 billion acquisition is a major bump from Bridge’s previous worth.
Launched in August, the firm said in a statement that its mission is to address the financial challenges posed by local currencies in an interconnected global economy. Bridge aims to overcome these obstacles by leveraging stablecoins, which offer faster, more affordable, and accessible payment solutions.
Stripe’s Growing Crypto Focus
Stripe, a payment processing platform that enables businesses to accept credit, debit, and other online payments, has been aggressively expanding its presence in the cryptocurrency space.
Just six months ago, the co-founder John Collison announced that the company would start supporting global stablecoin payments. This materialized when it integrated Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) into its payment interface two weeks ago.
In June, the payment processing firm also partnered with Coinbase. This introduced three new features, including the integration of the exchange’s Base Layer 2 network into its crypto payment products.
Stripe has also integrated USDC on Base into its fiat-to-crypto onramp, allowing faster conversion of fiat funds to crypto for its U.S. customers. Coinbase also agreed to include Stripe as a payment option for customers buying digital assets through its Coinbase Wallet.
In March 2024, the company reported passing $1 trillion in total payment volume for the year, with businesses using the platform accounting for roughly 1% of global GDP.
This article first appeared at CryptoPotato
