As a seasoned crypto investor with over a decade of experience navigating the ever-evolving digital asset landscape, I can confidently say that the recent $1.1 billion deal between Stripe and Bridge marks a significant milestone for the industry. The sheer size of this acquisition underscores the growing recognition and acceptance of cryptocurrencies by traditional financial giants.
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 announced the closing of a deal worth $1.1 billion in a post on X, saying, “The transaction has been completed.
Software tools developed by Bridge, a company founded by Sean Yu and Zach Abrams, facilitate businesses to process payments using stablecoins. This platform enables companies to generate, save, transfer, and receive these digital assets.
Previously, Zach Abrams held the position of Head of Consumer at Coinbase and established Evenly, a peer-to-peer payment company that was subsequently bought by Square. Prior to co-founding Bridge, Sean Yu occupied significant engineering roles at notable companies like Coinbase, Square, DoorDash, and Airbnb.
Previously this year, Bridge received a total of $58 million in investments from well-known firms like Sequoia, Haun Ventures, Ribbit, and Index Ventures. As Forbes reports, this funding consisted of a Series A round worth $40 million which appraised the company at $200 million. Essentially, Stripe’s acquisition for $1.1 billion signifies a significant increase in Bridge’s value compared to its previous estimation.
In a statement issued in August, the company announced its objective: addressing the financial hurdles presented by various local currencies within the global economy’s interconnected framework. The platform, known as Bridge, seeks to tackle these issues effectively by utilizing stablecoins, which provide faster, more affordable, and convenient payment methods.
Stripe’s Growing Crypto Focus
Stripe, a digital payment service provider, is actively increasing its influence in the world of cryptocurrencies by broadening its offerings to facilitate transactions involving various types of digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others.
Approximately half a year ago, one of the co-founders, John Collison, disclosed plans for the company to accept global stablecoin transactions. Recently, they made good on this promise by incorporating Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) into their payment system, which occurred just two weeks back.
In June, the cryptocurrency payment processor teamed up with Coinbase, which resulted in the addition of three innovative features. Among these is the incorporation of Coinbase’s Layer 2 network (Base) into their line of crypto payment solutions.
As a researcher, I’m excited to share that Stripe has seamlessly integrated USDC on Base into its fiat-to-crypto onramp, accelerating the process of converting U.S. users’ fiat funds into cryptocurrency. On the flip side, Coinbase has graciously decided to incorporate Stripe as a payment option for their customers, who wish to purchase digital assets using the Coinbase Wallet.
By March 2024, the company announced that it had surpassed a total payment volume of one trillion dollars for the year, which represented approximately 1% of the world’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP), generated by businesses operating on the platform.
Read More
- W PREDICTION. W cryptocurrency
- AEVO PREDICTION. AEVO cryptocurrency
- PENDLE PREDICTION. PENDLE cryptocurrency
- AAVE PREDICTION. AAVE cryptocurrency
- REF PREDICTION. REF cryptocurrency
- ERG PREDICTION. ERG cryptocurrency
- EUR JPY PREDICTION
- WOO PREDICTION. WOO cryptocurrency
- ETC PREDICTION. ETC cryptocurrency
- CEL PREDICTION. CEL cryptocurrency
2024-10-22 01:22