Stripe acquires stablecoin platform Bridge for $1.1 billion

Stripe has acquired Bridge, a stablecoin orchestration platform, for $1.1 billion. The deal, finalized this week, makes the startup's founders instant billionaires and marks one of the largest acquisitions in the crypto infrastructure space this year. Bridge provides tools for businesses to accept and process stablecoin payments across multiple blockchain networks. The company has positioned itself as a key infrastructure provider as more enterprises explore cryptocurrency payment options. The acquisition signals Stripe's renewed push into crypto payments after retreating from bitcoin support in 2018. CEO Patrick Collison has indicated that stablecoins represent a more viable payment use case than earlier cryptocurrency iterations due to their price stability and faster settlement times. Bridge had raised approximately $60 million in venture funding prior to the acquisition. Investors included Index Ventures, Sequoia, and individual backers from the fintech sector. The $1.1 billion price tag represents a substantial return for early investors in the two-year-old company. Stripe has been expanding its product suite beyond payment processing into lending, billing, and now crypto infrastructure as it prepares for a potential public offering.