Stripe is negotiating a $1 billion acquisition of stablecoin startup Bridge, marking its largest deal yet. This follows Stripe cofounder John Collison’s statement that “crypto is back,” signaling the company’s renewed interest in the sector.
Bridge, a crypto stablecoin startup, is currently in discussions with Stripe regarding a $1 billion acquisition.
Just months after Stripe cofounder John Collison proclaimed, “Crypto is back,” the fintech unicorn would make its largest acquisition.
Bridge, which offers an infrastructure for stablecoins, has raised $58 million, including a recent $40 million Series A round that valued the company at $200 million. It also garnered interest for a prospective Series B raise at a higher valuation.
Nevertheless, Bridge’s proprietors, Zach Abrams and Sean Yu, may encounter regulatory obstacles, including licenses and compensation.
Stripe, valued at $70 billion, suspended cryptocurrency payments in 2018 due to technical difficulties and exorbitant fees. However, the company implemented a new “Pay with Crypto” feature just this month. The service charges a 1.5% transaction fee and incorporates stablecoins with its checkout service.
“We internally joke that the killer app for cryptocurrency is simply money,” stated President Will Gaybrick.
Paxos, the issuer of Binance USD (BUSD), recently introduced its new payments platform, which has signed Stripe as its first customer.
Bridge’s cross-border payments solutions have processed more than $5 billion in annualized payments and have a client list that includes the US State Department, US Treasury, SpaceX, and Coinbase. 1confirmation, Bedrock, Haun Ventures, Index Ventures, Oak HC/FT, and Ribbit comprise its investors.
In 2013, Abrams and Yu sold Evenly, a competitor to Venmo, to Block. Before establishing Bridge in 2022, Abrams and Yu each held prominent positions at Coinbase and Brex, while Yu worked at DoorDash and Airbnb.
By acquiring Bridge, Stripe would fortify its position in the stablecoin market, which has a market capitalization of $170 billion.
The number of stablecoin transactions has experienced a recent record surge, as indicated by recent reports. The liquidity of stablecoin reached an all-time high of $169 billion at the end of last month, a 31% increase from the start of the year.
USDT, Tether’s cryptocurrency, maintained its market leadership by increasing its market capitalization by $28 billion to nearly $120 billion, which accounts for 71% of the market.
Circle’s USDC also experienced substantial development, with its market capitalization increasing by $11 billion to $36 billion year-to-date, a 44% increase year-to-date. This resulted in the company capturing 21% of the market share.
Tether disclosed its intention to investigate lending prospects in the commodities trading sector earlier this week. This new venture follows the company’s record-breaking profits, which totaled $5.2 billion in earnings for the first half of 2024.
