Stripe Aims for Largest Acquisition Yet with $1 Billion Deal for Bridge

Stripe, the FinTech giant, is reportedly in talks to acquire crypto startup Bridge for $1 billion, according to sources familiar with the discussions. This potential acquisition would be the largest to date for Stripe, which was recently valued at $70 billion. However, the deal is still under discussion and subject to regulatory considerations and compensation for employees.

Bridge, a provider of infrastructure for crypto stablecoins, has previously raised $58 million in funding and has a strong customer base that includes government departments and companies like SpaceX and Coinbase. The startup offers software that enables businesses to accept cross-border payments made with stablecoins. According to Forbes, if the acquisition goes through, it would provide Stripe with a backbone to venture more deeply into stablecoins, which have a collective market cap of over $170 billion.

Stripe has been actively investing in the crypto space, with previous acquisitions including TaxJar and Lemon Squeezy. In October, the company announced a new “Pay with Crypto” feature that integrates stablecoins with its customer checkout offerings. Stripe’s president, Will Gaybrick, highlighted the potential of stablecoins as a more efficient means of payment, particularly outside of the U.S.

The founders of Bridge, Zach Abrams and Sean Yu, are well-known entrepreneurs in the crypto and payments ecosystems. They previously built a Venmo competitor called Evenly, which was sold to Block in 2013. Abrams and Yu teamed up again to launch Bridge in 2022.

Stripe’s reentry into the crypto space comes after halting crypto payments in 2018 due to technical difficulties and high transaction rates. The potential acquisition of Bridge would provide Stripe with the infrastructure to further expand its presence in the stablecoin market.

While Stripe declined to comment on the acquisition talks, the company has made it clear that it is heavily investing in stablecoins. The potential acquisition of Bridge would be a significant move for Stripe as it continues to prioritize the crypto industry.