- The Bridge acquisition shows that traditional financial institutions are interested in stablecoins.
- Crypto asset management company Komainu has announced an agreement with Singaporean asset management provider Propine Holdings.
- Major cryptocurrency companies are considering going public soon, and M&A in Bitcoin mining has become a trend.
Payments giant Stripe has acquired stablecoin startup Bridge for $1.1 billion, according to analysts at Bernstein. This is the largest cryptocurrency acquisition by a major fintech company.
“Imagine a more fundamentally disruptive challenge to the traditional banking system: large-scale payments without bank involvement,” said Eric Risley, managing partner and analyst at Architect Partners. is difficult,” analyst Eric Risley, managing partner at Architect Partners, said in a blog post.
And this is just the beginning for cryptocurrency trading, as prices soar and established companies in the traditional financial space look to integrate with blockchain technology.
All the important crypto trades to watch are here.
Stripe acquires Bridge
Stripe's acquisition is large, but it's not the only deal that validates stablecoins as a major use case for blockchain technology, Bernstein analysts said in a research note.
Bridge provides an API that allows developers to integrate stablecoin payments into their businesses without having to deal with the underlying blockchain technology.
The company has raised $58 million in a funding round with backing from investors including Ribbit, Sequoia, and Haun Ventures.
Stripe joins rival PayPal in aiming to leverage blockchain technology for more efficient payments. PayPal launched its own stablecoin last year.
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Komainu, a crypto asset management company founded in 2018 as a joint venture between leading Japanese bank Nomura, asset management company CoinShares, and wallet provider Ledger, today acquired Singaporean asset management provider Propine Holdings. Then he announced.
If regulators approve the deal, Komainu will gain a foothold in Singapore, a major hub for both cryptocurrencies and traditional finance.
IPO
Circle announced in January that it plans to go public in an initial public offering, which could receive regulatory approval as early as this year.
Circle issues USDC, the second largest stablecoin after Tether.
The company tried to work with a special acquisition vehicle to go public in 2022, but the deal fell through.
Kraken has been planning a similar IPO in 2025 for years amid a dispute with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Fireblocks says it is not in a rush to launch an IPO, but it may continue to do so in the future.
Fireblocks creates software to move, store, and publish digital assets. Its customers and investors include major banks such as BNY Mellon and BNP Paribas.
Merger of miners
This bridge transaction is in line with trends in the Bitcoin mining industry. This year, several publicly traded Bitcoin miners merged through stock buyouts.
In June, Bitcoin miner CleanSpark acquired rival miner Griid in an all-stock deal worth $155 million.
And in August, Bitfarms fended off a takeover attempt by Riot Platforms to acquire Stronghold Digital Mining for $125 million.
Still, Riot raised its ownership stake in Bitfarms to 20% last month, so the battle to acquire the miners is likely to continue.
Virtual currency market movements
- Bitcoin is flat today, trading at $67,196.
- Ether has fallen slightly over the past 24 hours to $2,635.
