Stripe is reportedly in talks to acquire stablecoin provider Bridge, five months after announcing it would allow U.S. merchants to accept USDC payments again.
Multinational payments company Stripe is said to be in talks with Texas-based stablecoin payments hub Bridge to expand its portfolio of crypto services.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the parties are still negotiating and no final decision has been made yet. As of this writing, neither Stripe nor Bridge have issued any public comments on this matter.
If the acquisition goes ahead, Stripe could strengthen its position in the cryptocurrency market as it seeks to expand its services. In late April, Stripe President John Collison highlighted the benefits of cryptocurrency trading, highlighting on-chain “instant payments” and automatic conversion to fiat.
In early October, the company partnered with stablecoin issuer Paxos to launch its “Pay with Crypto” feature, allowing merchants in over 70 countries to accept stablecoin payments settled as fiat. It became. Additionally, merchants can issue refunds by converting fiat currency back into stablecoins and sending refunds directly to the original payment wallet.
Founded in 2022 by former Square and Coinbase executives Zach Abrams and Sean Yu, Bridge allows customers to not only transfer stablecoins, but also use stablecoins built from scratch, according to the company’s website. It allows funds to be settled with coins. In August, Bridge secured a $40 million round led by Sequoia and Rivit, bringing its total funding to $58 million.
