The $2.38 trillion-valued cryptocurrency industry might be witnessing its largest acquisition of the year. Stripe, a US-Ireland-based fintech firm, reportedly picked Bridge, a platform dealing in stablecoin issuance, for $1.1 billion, or around Rs. 9,248 crore. Confirming the deal is TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington in a post on X.
Although Arrington’s announcement did not contain substantial information, her post attracted positive sentiment from followers who stressed that combining cryptocurrency with more mainstream financial technology is key to encouraging wider crypto adoption.
Stripe and Bridge have yet to confirm this deal officially. However, per Bitcoin.com, this would be useful for Stripe because it’s an effort to expand its presence in the VDA sector. Bridge’s software, which allows businesses to accept stablecoin payments, would bring more usability to various Web3 users. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies pegged to track the value of fiat currencies.
While reports have referred to this acquisition as the largest in Web3, Gadgets360 cannot independently verify this.
Besides, Bridge, per its website, is a platform meant for stablecoin transactions—to move, store, and accept stablecoins and issue ones in minutes by any entity. This might drive Bridge’s valuation much higher than the approximate $200 million valuation today.
Stripe, on its part, tests crypto-based purchases within the European Union. Last month, in October, it said that its customers can avail of a “Pay with Crypto” capability, which allows merchants to receive stablecoin payments. Last year, in 2022, Stripe launched a ‘fiat-to-crypto’ offering that allowed customers to convert dollars into cryptocurrencies. During the same period, it named Matt Huang, co-founder of crypto-centric venture capital company Paradigm, to its board of directors.
