In just over 2 years, the French Bridge has positioned itself as one of the major players in cross-border stablecoin transactions. Strong growth which has not gone unnoticed since Stripe approached the start-up with the aim of acquiring it.
French start-up Bridge ready to be acquired by American giant Stripe
stripepayment company specializing in internet transactions, reportedly in advanced talks to acquire Bridgean American fintech founded in 2022 that provides services enabling businesses to make cross-border payments in stablecoins.
Everything happened very quickly for the start-up. Worn by Zach Abrams and Sean Yu, 2 cryptocurrency specialistsBridge aims to develop a global payment network around stablecoins and to compete with traditional payment systems.
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Gradually the start-up has seen its client portfolio grow, particularly in North America. She managed to convince American government agencies, as well as the giant Space to use its services focused on stablecoin payments. Since its creation, Bridge has already dealt with over $5 billion in annualized payment volume.
For its part, Stripe, a very established American fintech, had succeeded to raise $6.5 billion in March 2023 with recognized investment funds: az16, Sequoia and Founders Fund. More recently, as part of a takeover bid, Stripe announced having secured $694 million in funding, valuing the company at $65 billion for the occasion.
In recent weeks, Stripe management contacted Bridge management and discussions began. For the American group based in San Antonio, Texas, the objective is clear: buy the French fintech.
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Some information suggests an acquisition price of one billion dollars. If it were to come under the fold of Strip, Bridge would see its valuation explode, estimated at $200 million during a financing round completed last August and led by Sequoia.
For Stripe, this acquisition is a dream opportunity to interfere a little more in the cryptocurrency industry and more precisely stablecoinsin full expansion, more than 2 years after the Terra affair.
Last July, the unicorn announced the launch of a new service called “ Pay with crypto » offering its customers the possibility of using stablecoins, Circle's USDC in particular, for their transactions. It has been 6 years since the company offered services based on cryptocurrencies.
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For now, the operation is far from finalized. To begin with, the two stakeholders will have to find common ground. Regulatory considerations such as licensing and pay for Bridge employees are reportedly still at the center of discussions.
Also, if an agreement is reached, regulators could add their two cents and open a preliminary investigation into this possible acquisition. Finally, the question of regulation will arise : the legislative frameworks around cryptocurrencies being different from one country to another, they do not allow stablecoins to be exchanged optimally.
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Source : Forbes, Bloomberg
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Surprised by the rise of crypto-assets at the end of the 2010s, I began to closely follow this sector which fascinates me to the greatest extent. When I'm not in football stadiums, rugby stadiums or handball halls, I work on writing relevant articles around cryptocurrencies and more broadly, Web3.
Zacharie Tazrout
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