Stripe CEO Patrick Collison confirmed on X that his company has acquired stablecoin infrastructure company Bridge, describing stablecoins as “room temperature superconductors for financial services.”
The news follows an earlier tweet from TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington that the deal was valued at $1.1 billion.
Bridge provides B2B stablecoin infrastructure so that businesses can support payments using stablecoins. As we mentioned in a more detailed article last week, both companies are global orchestrators, with Stripe in charge of card and bank payments and Bridge in charge of stablecoins.
The startup has developed an infrastructure that allows developers to create applications that support instant cross-border payments.
Bridge CEO Zach Abrams wrote about the API’s launch in March 2023 in a social media post today.
“After we launched, we immediately received interest from cross-border payment companies. People were talking about stablecoins for cross-border fund transfers, and we saw the space and need for them. I didn’t understand that.”
“These developers came on board and showed us what was possible, and Bridge quickly began to scale.”
“Then we brought government agencies on board to deliver aid, fintechs built USD-based savings and spending products, SpaceX managed global finances, and many other institutions. I did.”
He added that the company moves billions of dollars in stablecoins and has grown 10x this year.
As I mentioned in last week’s article, for young startups like Bridge, it’s about more than just raising money. And with the help of companies like Stripe, founders can realize their vision faster.
So far, stablecoins have been used primarily as cryptocurrencies and by people in economies with unstable currencies. Bridge is one of the companies likely to help bring stablecoins mainstream. The deadline has become shorter.
If banks want to compete with tokenized deposits, they may need to move faster.
Ledger Insights Research has released a report on bank-issued stablecoins and tokenized deposits featuring over 70 projects. Click here for more information.
