Former executives from Square and Coinbase have raised $58 million for their new venture, Bridge. This funding round was led by well-known investors such as Sequoia, Ribbit, and Index Ventures, per a Fortune report.
Bridge—which aims to create a global stablecoin payment network that can compete with traditional systems like Swift and credit cards—was co-founded by Zach Abrams and Sean Yu, who previously held important positions at Square and Coinbase. Their goal is to enable companies to use stablecoin payment systems without worrying about the complexities of the underlying technology.
Zach Abrams, one of the co-founders, explained the reasoning behind Bridge’s mission, “Fintech is deeply rational. If you can do something that is faster, cheaper, and more economical, you win.” This statement points to the practical approach that Bridge is taking to transform the payment industry.
High-Profile Clients and Collaborations Are Incoming
Bridge has already attracted high-profile clients like Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Coinbase. Per the Fortune report, SpaceX uses Bridge’s services to collect payments in various currencies across different regions and transfer them through stablecoins into its global treasury. This shows the trust and reliability that Bridge has gained in a short time.
In addition to SpaceX, Bridge collaborates with cryptocurrency firms, including the Stellar blockchain and the Bitcoin app Strike, to provide the infrastructure for their stablecoin payment functionalities. This collaboration emphasizes Bridge’s commitment to integrating with existing crypto ecosystems and offering seamless payment solutions.
The Growing Stablecoin Market
The stablecoin market has seen huge growth despite past setbacks. The total stablecoin market capitalization is currently around $177.24 billion, CMC data shows. The two chief stablecoins, Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC), lead the market with $118.22 billion and $34.6 billion in market cap, respectively.
Top stablecoin tokens listed by market capitalizations from the top largest. Source: CoinMarketCap
However, the market has faced challenges, such as the TerraUSD (UST) collapse in 2022, which led to a loss of investor confidence and increased regulatory scrutiny. Despite these setbacks, stablecoins remain an attractive alternative investment tool. Traditional finance companies like PayPal have introduced their stablecoins, such as PayPal USD (PYUSD), which is backed 1:1 by US dollars and issued by Paxos Trust Company.
Bridge’s vision is to become a Web3 version of the payments processor Stripe, operating as a global payment system that other developers can integrate seamlessly. This ambitious goal reflects the company’s commitment to innovation and its potential to reshape the payment landscape.
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