According to TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, financial powerhouse Stripe has procured the stablecoin platform, Bridge, in a staggering $1.1 billion deal. Despite neither party confirming the acquisition, this transaction could potentially become one of the biggest purchase deals within the crypto sector.
The move marks a significant milestone for Stripe, a San Francisco and Dublin-based company known for its payment processing services which enable businesses to accept online credit and debit card payments. Estimated to worth around $70 billion as of July, the reported deal would be the biggest in the company’s history.
Stripe reached a considerable achievement in March 2023, when it hit the $1 trillion mark in total payment volume. Notably, the collective output from businesses using Stripe’s platform constituted around 1% of the worldwide gross domestic product (GDP).
News of this deal comes on the heels of company co-founder John Collison’s announcement that Stripe would start supporting global stablecoin payments. This was followed by Stripe introducing stablecoin payments on its primary payment user interface by assimilating the Circle USD (USDC) stablecoin.
On the other hand, Bridge, formed in 2022 by ex-Coinbase executives Zach Abrams and Sean Yu, operates as a stablecoin-based payments network. Designed to rival both the SWIFT network and credit card companies, Bridge enables businesses to produce, store, send, and receive stablecoins. Bridge managed to secure a $58 million funding this year from influential investors such as Sequoia, Ribbit, and Index.