Stripe Buys Stablecoin Platform Bridge in Record $1.1B Deal: Report

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. $1.1 billion.”

Bridge, co-founded by Sean Yu and Zach Abrams, offers software tools that enable businesses to accept payments in stablecoins. The platform allows companies to create, store, send and receive these assets.

Zach Abrams previously served as head of consumer at Coinbase and founded peer-to-peer payments company Evenly, which was later acquired by Square. Prior to 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 Stripe’s $1.1 billion acquisition is a significant increase in Bridge’s previous value.

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, affordable and accessible payment solutions.

Stripe’s growing crypto focus

Stripe, a payment processing platform that allows businesses to accept credit, debit and other payments online, has been aggressively expanding its presence in the cryptocurrency space.

Just six months ago, co-founder John Collison announced that the company would begin supporting global stablecoin payments. This materialized when it integrated Circle’s USD currency (USDC) into its payment interface two weeks ago.

In June, the payment processing company 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 ramp, enabling faster fiat-to-crypto conversion for its US customers. Coinbase also agreed to include Stripe as a payment option for customers purchasing digital assets through its Coinbase wallet.

As of March 2024, the company reported that it had surpassed $1 trillion in total payment volume for the year, with businesses using the platform accounting for roughly 1% of global GDP.

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