• Stripe has acquired stablecoin payment startup Bridge for $1.1 billion, marking its biggest acquisition and a strategic move into cryptocurrency.
  • Bridge’s technology will help Stripe enhance cross-border stablecoin transactions, streamlining global payments for businesses.

Stripe has completed its largest acquisition to date, purchasing stablecoin payment startup Bridge for $1.1 billion. The deal, finalized after regulatory approval, marks Stripe’s renewed push into cryptocurrency following its earlier exit from Bitcoin payments in 2018.

The acquisition stems from a roundtable discussion at Stripe’s headquarters last summer, where fintech leaders, including Stripe CEO Patrick Collison and Bridge co-founder Zach Abrams, met for the first time. Abrams, whose startup focused on stablecoin infrastructure, said the conversation unexpectedly centered on stablecoins.

“It was shocking to me,” Abrams told CNBC. “We spent 90-plus percent of the meeting talking about stablecoins — even though we were the only stablecoin company in the room.”

Following that discussion, Stripe became interested in Bridge’s technology, which simplifies stablecoin payments for businesses without requiring them to manage digital tokens directly. Bridge’s clients include companies like Coinbase and SpaceX.

Stablecoins, digital assets pegged to fiat currencies, are gaining traction in financial services. A report from Standard Chartered predicts they could account for 10% of global foreign exchange transactions, up from the current 1%.

Stripe had previously announced stablecoin payment support at its April Sessions conference, seeing higher transaction volumes in a week than during its entire history with Bitcoin payments.

Despite this, Stripe lacked a seamless solution for cross-border stablecoin transactions—an issue Bridge’s infrastructure was designed to solve.

“Bridge had developed a super elegant solution to cross-border use cases,” said Neetika Bansal, Stripe’s head of money movement products.

As part of the transition, Bridge’s 60-member team gathered in San Francisco for onboarding, including a deep dive into Stripe’s business operations. The company will continue running its existing services while working with Stripe on new integrations.

Stripe’s global transactions segment, growing at 50% annually, is expected to benefit from the acquisition. Bansal noted that stablecoins could significantly cut costs and improve efficiency, particularly for international payrolls. Stripe has already partnered with Remote.com to facilitate stablecoin-based payouts in over 70 countries.

While the deal is a major bet on stablecoins, Stripe executives emphasize a long-term strategy.

“We are working closely together to determine where Bridge’s infrastructure can enhance Stripe’s products and where we can develop new solutions,” Bansal said.

Edited by Harshajit Sarmah