Stripe Acquires Stablecoin Platform Bridge for $1.1B

The fintech leader Stripe has completed its acquisition of the stablecoin platform Bridge for an impressive $1.1 billion.

This marks the largest acquisition within the cryptocurrency sector to date.

Historic $1.1 Billion Acquisition

Michael Arrington, founder of TechCrunch, announced the news via a post on X, confirming, “This deal is done. $1.1b.”

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

Zach Abrams has a background as the Head of Consumer at Coinbase and previously founded the peer-to-peer payment service Evenly, which was acquired by Square. Prior to co-founding Bridge, Sean Yu held significant engineering positions at top companies including Coinbase, Square, DoorDash, and Airbnb.

Earlier this year, the startup secured $58 million in funding from notable investors such as Sequoia, Haun Ventures, Ribbit, and Index Ventures. According to Forbes, this included a $40 million Series A funding round, which valued the company at $200 million. This indicates that Stripe’s $1.1 billion purchase is a substantial increase from Bridge’s previous valuation.

Launched in August, the firm stated its objective is to tackle the financial difficulties posed by local currencies in a globally connected economy. Bridge plans to address these challenges by utilizing stablecoins, which provide quicker, cheaper, and more accessible payment solutions.

Stripe’s Expanding Focus on Cryptocurrency

Stripe, a payment processing company that enables businesses to accept credit, debit, and online payments, has been actively increasing its footprint in the cryptocurrency arena.

Just six months ago, co-founder John Collison announced that the company would begin supporting international stablecoin payments. This commitment was realized when it integrated Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) into its payment system two weeks ago.

In June, the company also collaborated with Coinbase, introducing three new features, including the integration of the exchange’s Base Layer 2 network into its crypto payment offerings.

Stripe has integrated USDC on Base into its fiat-to-crypto onramp, enabling quicker conversion of fiat funds to crypto for its U.S. customers. Coinbase also agreed to offer Stripe as a payment method for customers purchasing digital assets through its Coinbase Wallet.

In March 2024, the company reported that it surpassed $1 trillion in total payment volume for the year, with businesses on the platform accounting for approximately 1% of global GDP.