Stripe buys stable coin platform Bridge in $1.1 billion deal

Global payment giant Stripe has completed the acquisition of a promising stablecoin platform Bridge in a $1.1 billion deal.

The deal was announced by leading tech industry voice Michael Arrington who is also the co-founder of Tech Crunch.

Michael announced the completion of the deal without revealing any further details.

This deal is done. $1.1billion, Michael tweeted

There is yet to be an official confirmation from both firms as at the time of writing this report.

Bridge the platform at the receiving end of the deal was Founded in 2022 by former Coinbase execs Zach Abrams and Sean Yu.

The platform facilitates the creation, transfer, and storage of stablecoins. The acquisition by Stripe follows a $40 million funding round in August led by Sequoia, Ribbit, and Index.

Stripe’s acquisition of Bridge marks its second foray into the crypto world as the global payment processor continues to attempt to integrate crypto services into its portfolio.

The new investment aligns with its plans to expand its services in the crypto sector. Stripe initially introduced Bitcoin payments in 2014 but ditched the offering four years later citing poor utilization by clients.

Now in 2024, the company’s president John Collison announced Stripe’s re-entry into the crypto sector with stablecoin payments citing an uptick in demand for blockchain-based alternatives due to better transaction speeds and cheaper costs.

The Rise of Stablecoins  

Stablecoins have become the darling of the industry giving its inherent fix to one of the greatest challenges with crypto assets. Volatility! Stablecoins are crypto assets whose value is pegged to stable assets often the US dollar and other currencies on a 1:1 ratio.

The stability of Stable coins made them appeal to a large population of the crypto crowd who use them for day-to-day transactions and as a store of value for countries with weak currencies.

On Oct. 15, Stripe started making a bold move in adopting stablecoin into its portfolio by accepting Circle’s USDC stablecoin in partnership with Paxos, under its Pay with Crypto” option.

This partnership allowed merchants across 70 nations to initiate fiat-settled stablecoin payments.

Previously Stripe has had multiple forays into the cryptocurrency sector through various initiatives, like the introduction of payouts for creators on X via USDC, and the launch of fiat to crypto onramp service in 2022.

What to Know  

• The crypto industry has witnessed a surge in stablecoin usage hitting an all-time high in Q3 2024. The market capitalization of stablecoins hit nearly $170 billion in Q3 2024.
• According to Ripple CEO, the Stablecoin market has the potential to hit $3 trillion by 2030.
• Popular stable coins include Tether USDT, Circle USDC, Paypal PYUSD and Bridge