In a groundbreaking move that marks the largest acquisition in the history of the cryptocurrency industry, one fintech giant has made waves by securing a major stablecoin platform in a $1.1 billion deal.
Stripe has finalized its largest acquisition to date, snapping up stablecoin platform Bridge in a deal valued at $1.1 billion, according to Tech Crunch.
Bridge, founded by entrepreneurs Sean Yu and Zach Abrams (no relation to this reporter), provides software tools that help companies accept payments in stablecoins. The founders had previously sold a Venmo competitor called Evenly to Block in 2013; Abrams is also a former senior Coinbase employee.
Bridge had previously raised $58 million from investors, including a $40 million Series A round that valued the company at $200 million, according to Forbes. The $1.1 billion price tag therefore represents a large jump from the company’s prior valuation, and Stripe’s largest acquisition in its corporate history.
Stripe, which was last valued at $70 billion, reinstated crypto payments for US businesses via USDC on Ethereum, Solana and Polygon earlier this month. Stripe also inked a partnership with Coinbase in June which saw the startup incorporate Coinbase’s Base Layer 2 network into its crypto payment products, while Coinbase pledged to add Stripe as a way for its customers to buy crypto within its Coinbase Wallet.
The $1.1 billion purchase represents the crypto industry’s largest acquisition deal to date.
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