Stripe in Advanced Talks To Acquire Bridge, a Stablecoin Fintech Firm
Payments company Stripe is reportedly in advanced discussions to acquire Bridge, a Texas-based fintech firm focused on stablecoin integration.
According to Bloomberg, the deal is not finalized, and either party may still withdraw from negotiations.
Bridge, co-founded by former executives from Square and Coinbase, specializes in enabling cross-border payments and foreign currency exchanges using stablecoins like USDC and USDT.
The firm has established partnerships, including one with Bitso, to facilitate business-to-business cross-border payments in Latin America. In August, Bridge announced a successful funding round, raising a total of $58 million from notable investors, including Sequoia and Ribbit.
Stripe has a history in the crypto space, having been one of the first major payment processors to support Bitcoin transactions in 2014. However, the company ceased this feature in 2018 due to declining demand, attributed to high fees and price volatility.
Recently, Stripe reintroduced crypto payments for U.S. businesses, allowing transactions in Circleâs USDC stablecoin across Ethereum, Solana and Polygon networks.
The company's renewed focus on cryptocurrency services aligns with its recent moves to expand crypto integrations. In July, Stripeâs EU division enabled online vendors to add widgets for purchasing various crypto, including BTC, ETH and SOL.
Additionally, a partnership with Coinbase was established to incorporate the crypto exchange's layer 2 network, Base, into Stripeâs crypto payout products, facilitating fiat-to-crypto transactions using credit cards and Apple Pay.
