Stripe makes $1.1 billion crypto bet as it closes on Bridge acquisition

Stripe has closed on its $1.1 billion purchase of stablecoin platform Bridge – marking the payment giant’s largest acquisition to date and tangible push into crypto.

Co-founded in 2022 by Coinbase and Square alumni Zach Abrams and Sean Yu, San Antonio, Texas-based Bridge built an API that helps companies accept stablecoins. The pair raised $58 million from investors such as Index Ventures and Sequoia Capital, according to PitchBook. It was valued at $200 million when it raised a $40 million Series A in 2024.

With this acquisition, Stripe is clearly betting big on crypto. 

In a February 5 post on X, Stripe co-founder and CEO Patrick Collison wrote: “We expected Bridge (go follow them at @stablecoin) to grow very quickly, and we’re nevertheless shocked at just how rapidly adoption is exploding. In the coming years, everyone programmatically moving money will likely want a stablecoin strategy.”

Last July, Stripe enabled crypto purchases in the EU, and in October, the fintech announced a Pay with Crypto feature that lets merchants accept stablecoins.

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