Stripe acquires stablecoin platform Bridge for $1.1 billion Crypto 4 days ago

Payments giant Stripe has acquired stablecoin platform Bridge for a total amount of $1.1 billion, more than 5x its $200 million valuation, according to an Oct. 21 annnouncement.The acquisition is part of Stripe’s plan to enter the stablecoin market. The announcement said the firms will focus on growing the adoption of stablecoins to make money easier to move, store, and spend globally.Rumors of the deal first appeared on Oct. 17. Michael Arrington, founder of TechCrunch and venture capital fund Arrington Capital, later corroborated the reports and revealed that the deal was closed on October 20.On Aug. 29, Bridge received $58 million in a private fundraising round with the participation of Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, Index Ventures, and Haun Ventures, according to data from DefiLlama.Bridge offers infrastructure to issue and move tokenized money on different blockchains. The platform has also supported government initiatives and counts SpaceX, Coinbase, and Stellar among its clients.The stablecoin platform noted in its announcement that Stripe shares its view that stablecoins can have a profound impact globally and added:“Stablecoins solve critical financial problems by making money easier to move, more economical to hold, and cheaper to send. This isn’t about ‘crypto’—it’s about solving real-world problems in a globalized economy.”Meanwhile, Stripe processed over $1 trillion in total payment volume in 2023, growing by 25% in one year. Additionally, Stripe is the second largest payment processing technology, with a 17% market share, according to Statista’s data.Nic Carter, partner at Castle Island Ventures and co-founder of Coinmetrics, commented that the Bridge acquisition by Stripe will “turbocharge” the stablecoin space. He added that generalist venture capital funds that quit crypto will pivot back to the market.Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, agreed with Carter’s remarks:“Let’s do this!”The acquisition comes at a pivotal time for stablecoins, which have gained steam in recent months.According to a16z’s report “State of Crypto 2024,” stablecoins amounted to $8.5 trillion in transaction volume in the second quarter, and they represent 32% of all crypto usage activity.Moreover, the report highlighted that this is more than double Visa’s $3.9 trillion registered in the same period.Despite being popular in crypto, stablecoins started penetrating mainstream finance. Revolut is rumored to launch its stablecoin and Visa announced a platform to help banks issue their fiat-backed tokens.Furthermore, Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank revealed it embraced the usage of stablecoins to process cross-border payments.Gino Matos is a law school graduate and a seasoned journalist with six years of experience in the crypto industry. His expertise primarily focuses on the Brazilian blockchain ecosystem and developments in decentralized finance (DeFi).AJ, a passionate journalist since Yemen’s 2011 Arab Spring, has honed his skills worldwide for over a decade. Specializing in financial journalism, he now focuses on crypto reporting. Follow us on X for instant crypto news and insights updates.Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan countered claims of political bias and emphasized the platform’s role in providing transparent, data-driven forecasts.Paolo Ardoino stated that the WSJ is ‘regurgitating old noise,’ claiming that Tether is not under investigation in the US.The Bilateral Liaison Group will help the countries strenghten their capabilities in investigating crypto-related crimes.Drawing on historical movements for state-level advocacy, the fund aims to proactively safeguard Bitcoin user rights before federal legislation.Disclaimer: Our writers’ opinions are solely their own and do not reflect the opinion of CryptoSlate. None of the information you read on CryptoSlate should be taken as investment advice, nor does CryptoSlate endorse any project that may be mentioned or linked to in this article. Buying and trading cryptocurrencies should be considered a high-risk activity. Please do your own due diligence before taking any action related to content within this article. Finally, CryptoSlate takes no responsibility should you lose money trading cryptocurrencies.