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Patrick Collison, chief executive officer and co-founder of Stripe Inc., left, smiles as John Collison, president and co-founder of Stripe Inc., speaks during a Bloomberg Studio 1.0 television interview in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Friday, March 23, 2018. 

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Stripe has once again shown why sometimes it’s better to be private.

During a February sell-off for fintech stocks, Block plunged almost 30%, its steepest decline since 2022, alongside drops of 20% or more for PayPal and Coinbase and a 9% slide in shares of SoFi. Meanwhile, Stripe on Thursday announced a tender offer for employee shares at a $91.5 billion valuation, making the payments company significantly more valuable than any of its public market peers.

“In general, they benefit from being private because there’s a handful of stocks that people want to buy and they trade at a premium to public valuations,” said Larry Albukerk, founder of EB Exchange, which helps facilitate trades in shares of pre-IPO companies.

He said Stripe is part of an exclusive group of private companies, along with SpaceX, Anthropic and Anduril, which are all seeing sky-high demand from investors.

“For every one of those, there’s 100 companies that don’t get that kind of premium,” Albukerk said.

The Collison brothers — Patrick and John — founded Stripe in 2010, a year after Jack Dorsey started Square, which is now part of Block. Crypto exchange Coinbase and online lender SoFi were both launched after Stripe.

While all of those companies went the traditional route of raising large amounts of capital from prominent venture capital firms, only Stripe has chosen to stay private. To relieve some pressure for liquidity, Stripe regularly allows early investors and employees to sell a portion of their stake. The tender offer this week marks a 40% increase from a year ago and gets the company close to its peak valuation of $95 billion that it reached in the frothy days of the Covid pandemic.

“We are not dogmatic on the public vs. private question,” John Collison, the company’s president, told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin this week, adding that Stripe has “no near-term IPO plans.”

Stripe’s peers have all had to report quarterly results of late, and it’s created a hefty dose of volatility and some concern. Last week, Block reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that missed analysts’ expectations, pushing the stock down 18%, its third-worst one-day drop on record.

PayPal shares tumbled even though the company blew past estimates and issued better-than-expected guidance. Coinbase topped expectations with revenue soaring 130%, powered by a post-election spike in crypto prices. Coinbase was a leading contributor to Republicans’ sweeping victory in November in its effort to help push forward a more crypto-friendly agenda in Washington, D.C.

But Coinbase fell earlier this week to its lowest price since just before the election, tumbling in tandem with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box outside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 21st, 2025.

Gerry Miller | CNBC

It’s been a rough stretch for stocks overall, particularly in the tech sector. The Nasdaq fell about 5% in February, its worst month since September 2023. The S&P 500 declined 2.3%.

Investors have been rattled in recent days by President Donald Trump’s promise of tariffs and economic reports flashing warning signs. Notably, initial filings for unemployment benefits hit their highest level of the year last week in another potential sign of weakness in the labor market.

Fintechs can be more sensitive to economic conditions than the broader tech sector because they’re more directly effected by interest rates, employment data and consumer confidence.

Private market premium

By remaining private, Stripe is able to skirt the daily, weekly and monthly stock swings while also disclosing far fewer numbers to the public regarding its financial health.

The biggest revelation Stripe offered in its annual letter on Thursday is that it generated $1.4 trillion in total payment volume in 2024, up 38% from the year prior. The company said it was profitable in 2024, and expects to remain so this year, without providing specifics, and the only revenue figure it offered was that its finance and tax reporting unit topped a $500 million run rate.

Kelly Rodriques, CEO of private securities marketplace Forge, said Stripe’s valuation jump shows there’s enthusiasm for private companies, even some that aren’t focused specifically on artificial intelligence. Forge’s Private Market Index, which tracks demand for shares in private companies, has surged more than 33% in the past three months, and that’s before Stripe’s latest announcement.

“Stripe’s valuation increase could be further evidence of the broad rally we’re observing in the private market that is now rippling beyond the AI sector, which has driven most of the momentum over the last several months,” Rodriques said in an email.

Albukerk noted that another aspect to the spike in Stripe’s price is the scarcity of volume available for investors and the difficulty in getting access to it other than through the tender offers.

It’s one of those private companies “where there’s a lot of demand and very little supply,” he said.

Stripe President John Collison on road to profitability, utility of stablecoins and AI impact

However, just being private doesn’t eliminate Stripe’s other challenges.

In his interview on “Squawk Box,” John Collison highlighted the growing complexity of financial compliance and said banks are becoming more conservative in their partnerships with fintechs.

“We have started to see the financial system become more involved in financial policy enforcement,” Collison said. “And then you tend to get these occasional flare-ups from time to time.”

Both Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs have distanced themselves from the company, according to The Information, prompting Stripe to turn to Deutsche Bank and other institutions for key services. Collison didn’t provide details to CNBC, but acknowledged that Stripe has had to navigate shifting relationships.

“Banks are tightly regulated, and they in general want to have a sound book of business,” he said. “They don’t want to get into arguments with their regulator.” According to The Information, Stripe has tripled its risk and compliance headcount to 700 employees over the past two years.

The area with the most regulatory scrutiny has been crypto, which was a notoriously challenging area for companies to operate during the Biden administration. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation recently released internal records obtained via FOIA requests, revealing that regulators had sent “pause letters” urging banks to reconsider relationships with crypto firms.

Trump has made a point of loosening restrictions on crypto, and one of his first actions as president was to sign an executive order to promote the advancement of cryptocurrencies in the U.S. and work toward potentially developing a national digital asset stockpile

Stripe made its biggest jump into crypto with the closing this month of its $1.1 billion purchase of Bridge, a provider of stablecoin infrastructure. Stripe’s goal with the deal is to enable more payments via crypto, as Bridge focuses on making it easier for businesses to accept stablecoin payments without having to directly deal in digital tokens.

In its annual letter, Stripe said that stablecoin transactions more than doubled between the fourth quarter of 2023 and the same period last year.

“The fundamentals for stablecoin adoption have only recently fallen into place, enabling the explosive growth we now see,” the company wrote.

— CNBC’s Ari Levy contributed to this report.

WATCH: CNBC’s full interview with Stripe co-founder and president John Collison

Watch CNBC's full interview with Stripe co-founder and president John Collison

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Coinbase adds prediction markets and stock trading in push to be one-stop trading app

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December 17, 2025

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Coinbase adds prediction markets and stock trading in push to be one-stop trading app

Brian Armstrong, chief executive officer of Coinbase Global Inc., speaks during the Messari Mainnet summit in New York, on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023.

Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Coinbase is making its biggest push yet to reposition itself as a mainstream trading and financial platform, moving beyond crypto and into the broader retail investing stack as competitors show there’s real money in always-on engagement products.

The digital asset exchange announced Wednesday that it’s rolling out a major slate of new products designed to turn Coinbase into a one-stop financial app, expanding into stocks, more advanced trading, and prediction markets, while doubling down on its on-chain ecosystem and new tools for businesses, developers, and automated financial guidance.

While many of these offerings have been telegraphed for months, Coinbase says the products are now built, and ready to go.

CEO Brian Armstrong is looking to make his platform the place to trade everything.

That includes stocks, a streamlined futures and perpetuals experience, and prediction markets through Kalshi, alongside a tokenization roadmap aimed at eventually bringing more traditional assets on-chain, including equities.

The area of prediction markets, in particular, is quickly getting crowded.

DraftKings has moved to buy its own exchange, FanDuel is teaming up with CME, and Polymarket is entering the U.S. through a newly approved venue. Robinhood, meanwhile, is putting LedgerX at the center of its regulated push.

The defining rivalry in the space remains Kalshi versus Polymarket, regulated rails versus crypto-native liquidity.

Armstrong said the category’s appeal isn’t just trading, but its insight into sentiment, and what people think will happen next on any given topic.

“If you look at things like economic indicators … or elections, people are using prediction markets to try to figure out what is going to happen next month,” Armstrong told CNBC. “Maybe1% of people use it as an asset class to trade, and 99% of people are using it as a way to figure out what’s going to happen — almost like a competitor to traditional media or maybe even entertainment.”

In the company’s third-quarter earnings call with analysts in October, Armstrong showed just how easily prediction market wagers can be manipulated, rattling off several words that were being bet on.

“I was a little distracted because I was tracking the prediction market about what Coinbase will say on their next earnings call,” Armstrong said. “And I just want to add here the words bitcoin, ethereum, blockchain, staking and Web3 to make sure we get those in before the end of the call.”

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Robinhood underscored that shift this week by expanding prediction markets into sports-style contracts that resemble parlays and prop bets, and by touting the category as its fastest-growing business by revenue.

Coinbase is now bringing the same kind of outcome trading into its own ecosystem, but as a part of a much wider bet that the next-generation brokerage is a single app that blends traditional assets, derivatives, and on-chain rails.

Coinbase is pairing the trading expansion with a tokenization roadmap that signals where it wants the platform to go next, bringing more traditional assets on-chain, including equities.

The company is launching Coinbase Tokenize, an institutional stack intended to support real-world asset tokenization.

Armstrong framed the expansion as a bridge to something bigger.

Trading stocks, he said, is “a good first step,” but the real goal is tokenized equities. If Coinbase can get tokenized equity live, he said, it could “democratize access for people over the world,” and unlock new market structure in the U.S., including more robust, professional futures markets tied to equities.

“So this is the starting point,” he said.

The announcement also extends Coinbase’s push to become a provider of on-chain liquidity — not just a venue for listed tokens.

For businesses and developers, Coinbase is widening its platform story beyond retail trading. The company said Coinbase Business is becoming available to eligible customers in the U.S. and Singapore, and it’s rolling out an expanded API suite spanning custody, payments, trading, and stablecoins.

Armstrong’s broader thesis is that crypto isn’t a niche category, it’s an upgrade cycle for the financial system itself.

“Crypto is updating all financial services,” he said, suggesting that every major asset class will move on-chain over time, from prediction markets and equities to commodities, and eventually real-world assets like real estate.

Even the largest asset managers, he said, are signaling they want to migrate funds on-chain, positioning Coinbase as a central platform for that transition.

Coinbase is also introducing “custom stablecoins” for companies that want branded stablecoin rails, and spotlighting x402, a payments standard the company says is meant to make stablecoin payments easier to attach to web requests — including for automated commerce and agent-driven transactions.

The strategic throughline is retention and diversification.

Coinbase already owns a large crypto-native audience, and it wants that customer to stay on its platform for every asset class, even when crypto volumes cool and transaction revenue compresses.

WATCH: What to know about Robinhood’s new prediction market features

What to know about Robinhood's new prediction market features

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First savings hits Navee XT5 Pro long-range off-road e-scooter for $1,400, Anker SOLIX 60,000mAh power station $108, Lectric, more

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December 17, 2025

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First savings hits Navee XT5 Pro long-range off-road e-scooter for ,400, Anker SOLIX 60,000mAh power station 8, Lectric, more


Our mid-week Green Deals is headlined by a surprise first-ever holiday deal on the brand-new Navee XT5 Pro Long-Range Off-Road Electric Scooter at $1,400, which boasts some serious premium upgrades. Right behind it, we have Anker’s SOLIX C200 DC Compact Power Station, and its larger C300 counterparts, that start from $108, as well as a roundup of Lectric’s three e-bikes getting up to $500 price cuts and $220 bundles that start from $1,399, Bluetti’s current 48-hour Christmas flash sale through December 18, and much more waiting for you below. And don’t forget about the hangover deals that are collected together at the bottom of the page, like yesterday’s Velotric Christmas e-bike Gift Season Sale, the new $999 low on Heybike’s dual-battery Hauler cargo e-bike, and more.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

First savings just hit Navee’s newest feature-packed XT5 Pro long-range off-road electric scooter for $1,400

Navee’s official Amazon storefront is undercutting the brand’s direct Christmas Sale pricing on its brand-new XT5 Pro Long-Range Off-Road Electric Scooter for $1,399.99 shipped, after clipping the on-page $200 off coupon. This model just hit the market early last month with a $1,500 price tag, which is where it’s still priced direct from the brand. At Amazon, however, it started off priced at $1,700 and dropped to $1,600 right before Black Friday, with today’s deal being the first official chance at cash savings that we’ve spotted. While this deal lasts, you’re getting $100 off the going rate that sets the bar for future discounts, while also upgrading your commutes/joyrides with the brand’s take on a superscooter.

The most high-end of Navee’s e-scooter lineup that even outpaces the flagship ST3 Pro, this new XT5 Pro Long-Range Electric Scooter is an off-roading superscooter that comes with bolstered durability from its carbon steel frame, while also being the second series to boast the brand’s unique damping arm suspension system. It arrives equipped with a 750W motor that can peak as high as 2,200W for seriously monstrous power, with the entire thing powered by a 596.7Wh battery. This combination gives it a travel range of up to 46.6 miles on a single six-hour charge (with a 1.5-hour flash charging feature available), maxing out at 31 MPH top speeds for the thrill seekers amongst you. It even comes with an add-on option through a 468Wh external battery (sold separately) that increases the mileage with up to 34 miles of extra travel.

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As Navee’s XT5 Pro electric scooter is a more premium commuter, it should be no surprise that it comes loaded with a premium array of features, including smart features like Apple Find My, Bluetooth proximity locking/unlocking, app-based setting customization, and more. Your riding experience is also further heightened by the stock features that include a triple braking system (dual front and rear disc brakes, as well as a rear regenerative EABS brake), 12-inch off-road tubeless tires, an auto-on headlight, mecha-style logo lamps in the stem, a brake-activated taillight, front and rear built-in turn signals, the brand’s traction control system, a 5-inch full color display, and much more.

As I mentioned, alongside this surprise Navee XT5 electric scooter deal, the brand also has its ongoing Christmas Sale with up to 30% discounts still going right now, which offers its e-scooters at some of the best rates starting from $200.

Anker SOLIX C200 DC power station on rock with drone, projector, and speaker

Get 60,000mAh/192Wh support for devices from Anker’s SOLIX C200 DC power station at $108 for Xmas, more from $162

As part of its ongoing Christmas Sale, Anker SOLIX is offering its C200 DC 60,000mAh/192Wh Compact Power Station at $108.49 shipped, which matches in price at Amazon while also beating out the current price of the predecessor PowerCore Reserve by $7. While it carries a $200 MSRP, you can find it starting lower at $170 at Amazon, with discounts over the year having taken the costs as low as $100, most recently during Black Friday through Cyber Monday over two weeks ago. You’re looking at the third-best price we have tracked while the $62 savings last ($92 off the MSRP), only beaten out by that $100 low and $105 rates that sporadically pop up. If you want to go bigger, you can also find the C300 DC and C300 AC 90,000mAh models starting from $162.

If you want to learn more about these compact power stations, be sure to check out our original coverage of these Christmas deals here. You can also go even larger by taking advantage of Anker’s current SOLIX Christmas Sale deals, with up to 65% discounts across its entire power station lineup that starts from $162.

man standing with Lectric ONE e-bike

Save up to $720 on these three Lectric e-bikes with price cuts to lows starting from $1,399 for Xmas

Looking back in on Lectric’s ongoing Christmas Holiday Sale event, we wanted to shine a spotlight on the three e-bikes receiving rare price cuts over the usual free bundle packages – a first for so many models at once. The biggest of these price cuts that also retains a bundle is Lectric’s ONE e-bike Long-Range Belt-Drive Commuter e-bike with a $220 FREE bundle of gear at $1,899 shipped. This entire package would normally run you $2,619 at full price, with a repeat of the $500 price cut we’ve been seeing more frequently since Labor Day to its all-time lowest tracked price, along with a FREE rear cargo rack and fender set. While the deadline to receive it before Christmas has passed, you can still secure it and all the other e-bikes with some of their best deals to kick-off your new year with a new commuting option.

If you want to learn more about this premium e-bike, or the other models getting Christmas price cuts, be sure to check out our original coverage of these deals here, while you can also browse the brand’s full Christmas lineup here.

woman using Bluetti Elite 10 mini power station to charge laptop on plane

For 48 hours, you can pick up Bluetti’s latest Elite 10 Mini power station at a new $109 Xmas flash sale low (Save $90), more

As part of its ongoing Christmas Sale, Bluetti has a 48-hour flash sale running that is taking up to $199 off three different offers, with a notable standout in the Elite 10 Mini Power Station for $109 shipped, which sadly cannot be stacked with the exclusive 5% off savings code, but does beat out its Amazon pricing by $10. While carrying a $239 MSRP direct from the brand, you can find it starting lower at Amazon for $199, with the holiday discounts that started last week having only taken the costs down to $149, before falling to $119 and then $109 during this flash sale window. While these $90 savings ($130 off the MSRP) last through December 18, you’re able to score it at a new all-time low price, with another flash offer being two of these stations for $199 shipped.

If you want to learn more about this mini power station, or browse the full lineup of temporary deals, be sure to check out our original coverage of this flash sale here.

RENPHO foot massager next to Christmas tree and presents
REDTIGER F7NP dash cam
Anker eufy solar smart security camera mounted on outdoor wall in rain
Lectric e-bike Christmas banner

Best Winter EV deals!

Best new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.


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Toyota launches the new Urban Cruiser EV, an ‘authentic’ entry-level electric SUV

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7 hours ago

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December 17, 2025

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Toyota launches the new Urban Cruiser EV, an 'authentic' entry-level electric SUV

Toyota-Urban-Cruiser-EV

The Urban Cruiser is Toyota’s second fully electric SUV, but it adds some meaningful upgrades over the outgoing bZ4X.

Meet the new Toyota Urban Cruiser electric SUV

Based on a new dedicated EV platform, Toyota calls the Urban Cruiser “an authentic SUV” in terms of design and performance.

Toyota launched the new entry-level electric SUV in Europe with two lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery pack options: 49 kWh or 61 kWh. The smaller (49 kWh) battery is only available with a 142 hp (106 kW) front-wheel-drive (FWD) motor, rated with a WLTP driving range of 344 km (214 miles).

The larger 61 kWh version is available with FWD or all-wheel drive (AWD) powertrains, delivering WLTP driving ranges of 426 km and 395 km, respectively. The AWD version delivers a combined 181 hp (135 kW).

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Toyota said all Urban Cruiser variants can tow braked loads of up to 750 kg (1,650 lbs). With DC fast charging, the electric SUV can recharge from 10% to 80% in around 45 minutes.

Toyota-Urban-Cruiser-EV-price
The 2026 Toyota Urban Cruiser EV (Source: Toyota)

To improve efficiency, unlock faster charging, and boost driving range, Toyota added a heat pump and battery preconditioning feature as standard.

Thanks to the new dedicated EV platform, the interior is open and spacious. With sliding and split-folding rear seats, the Urban Cruiser rivals “the load-carrying capabilities of larger SUVs,” Toyota said.

Toyota-Urban-Cruiser-interior-space
The interior of the 2026 Toyota Urban Cruiser EV (Source: Toyota)
Toyota-Urban-Cruiser-interior
The interior of the 2026 Toyota Urban Cruiser EV (Source: Toyota)

Measuring 4,285 mm long, 1,800 mm wide, and 1,640 mm tall, the electric SUV is slightly bigger than its popular Yaris Cross. It also gains extra interior space thanks to an extended wheelbase of 2,700 mm (+140 mm compared to the Yaris Cross).

The infotainment system consists of a 10.25″ driver display and a 10.1″ multimedia touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Toyota-Urban-Cruiser-front
The 2026 Toyota Urban Cruiser EV (Source: Toyota)

All Urban Cruiser models are equipped with standard safety features such as Brake Support System, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Keep Assist, and Traffic Sign Recognition.

In Germany, the Urban Cruiser EV is on sale, priced from €31,990 ($37,500). Financing is available from €340.41 ($400) a month.

Toyota’s new entry-level electric SUV follows the launch of the refreshed bZ4X. In 2026, Toyota will introduce the C-HR+, bZ4X Touring, and Hilux BEV electric pickup.

For those in the US, Toyota is not expected to launch the Urban Cruiser in the States. However, the new and much-improved 2026 Toyota bZ is among the few EVs in the US with starting prices under $35,000. Next year, it will launch the C-HR, which is expected to be even more affordable.


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