Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies pegged 1:1 with the value of fiat currencies such as the dollar, and have emerged as one of the most effective ways to make international payments using blockchain, such as Visa and Large companies such as PayPal are encouraging them to integrate stablecoins into their services. The latest payments giant to move forward with stablecoin adoption is Stripe, which announced the acquisition of startup Bridge on Monday.
The $1.1 billion acquisition was originally announced by TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington on X on Sunday and later confirmed by both Stripe and Bridge. The deal marks the largest cryptocurrency acquisition by a major payments company.
In a post confirming the acquisition, Stripe CEO Patrick Collison described the stablecoin as a “room-temperature superconductor” for financial services, a hypothesis that, if discovered, could revolutionize the way energy is produced. substance).
“Stablecoins are an entirely new payments platform, and it will be a long journey spanning decades to understand the potential of this platform,” Bridge said in a blog post. “And as I got to know the Stripe team, it became clear that we shared a vision of what is possible with stablecoins and an excitement for the opportunity to create and build this future.” It became.”
Stablecoins have gained popularity over the past two years due to their low fees and ability to offer instant payments, reaching a market capitalization of $173 billion. Stablecoins backed by the US dollar, such as Tether and USDC, are widespread, especially outside the US. This growth tracks demand for dollar-based stablecoins in regions of the world with volatile currencies, where people seek to preserve the value of their assets.
Despite their soaring popularity, finding an efficient on/off ramp remains a challenge for companies looking to use stablecoins to migrate fiat to the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Bridge aims to solve this problem.
Co-founders Zach Abrams and Sean Yu are fintech industry veterans with experience at Square and Coinbase. The company builds stablecoin infrastructure by enabling developers to incorporate stablecoin technology into their daily work by aggregating a set of APIs (a set of rules or protocols that allow different software to communicate). I’m trying to evolve the structure.
The company announced in August that it had raised a total of $58 million from prominent venture capital firms including Sequoia, Ribbit, Index, and Haun Ventures. At the time, Bridge was processing more than $5 billion in payments annually.
This gives the startup the resources, reach, and expertise of $70 billion payments company Stripe.
“We built Bridge to solve the most vexing global financial problems and advance a more connected world,” Abrams said at X. We are excited to work with Stripe to fully realize these ambitions.”
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