Stripe closes $1.1 billion Bridge deal, prepares for aggressive stablecoin push
Patrick Collison, CEO and co-founder of Stripe, speaking at 2022’s Italian Tech Week in Turin, Italy.
Giuliano Berti | Bloomberg | Getty Images
SAN FRANCISCO — What started as a casual roundtable at Stripe’s headquarters to discuss issues facing fintech companies turned into a billion-dollar acquisition that could become a defining moment for the industry.
Last summer, Stripe hosted Wally Adeyemo, who was then deputy secretary of the Treasury Department, for a chat with a number of financial services providers. Among the attendees were Stripe CEO Patrick Collison and Bridge co-founder Zach Abrams. The two entrepreneurs had never met.
Abrams, whose startup specialized in stablecoin infrastructure, said the session surprised him, as it quickly morphed into a conversation specific to his company.
“It was shocking to me,” Abrams told CNBC this week, recalling the event. The group “spent 90-plus percent of the meeting talking about stablecoins — even though we were the only stablecoin company” in the room, he said.
By the end, Bridge was firmly on Stripe’s radar. Months later, that initial meeting led to Stripe’s biggest acquisition to date, a $1.1 billion purchase of Bridge. The deal, which closed Tuesday after clearing regulatory hurdles, gives Stripe a firm foothold in crypto, a market where it previously struggled to gain traction.
“In the course of us spending time together, he probably developed more of an understanding of our business,” said Abrams, who co-founded Bridge in 2022. “And I think there was a growing excitement around the ways that our business can grow, and probably the ways our business could help support and grow the Stripe ecosystem.”
Bridge’s roughly 60-person team convened in San Francisco on Tuesday for the official onboarding. The newcomers were introduced to Stripe’s culture with a crash course on how to write like a Stripe employee and an intro to the business from Collison.
It’s all part of Stripe’s standard fintech boot camp, a program that runs every two weeks for new hires.
Bridge focuses on making it easier for businesses to accept stablecoin payments without having to directly deal in digital tokens. Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to the value of a real-world asset, such as the U.S. dollar. Customers include Coinbase and SpaceX.
Companies across the financial services landscape, from legacy banks to startup payment providers, are adopting stablecoins or exploring launching their own because they make it easier and cheaper to switch between currencies and to move money digitally. Standard Chartered predicted in a recent report that stablecoins could grow to become about 10% of foreign exchange transactions, up from 1% today.
Prior to Abrams’ first interaction with Collison at the roundtable, Bridge had been aggressively courting Stripe as a customer, hoping to integrate its technology into the payment giant’s ecosystem. As the two CEOs spent more time together in the weeks that followed, Collison’s interest in Bridge deepened.
Previous failure
Stripe had already taken a shot at crypto — and failed. It was one of the first major fintech firms to support bitcoin payments in 2014, but pulled the plug in 2018, citing scalability issues and high transaction fees. Still, the company insisted at the time that it remained “very optimistic about cryptocurrencies overall.”
Stablecoins would be Stripe’s next foray. At its flagship Sessions conference in April, the company said it would enable merchants to accept stablecoins for online purchases. In its first week of the offering, Stripe saw more stablecoin volume than in its entire history of offering bitcoin transactions.
However, Stripe was still missing a key component to make it all work. It needed a way to seamlessly handle cross-border transactions.
That’s precisely what Bridge offered, said Neetika Bansal, Stripe’s head of money movement products.
“If you think about Stripe and what we’ve focused on for the past seven years — what I personally have focused on — it’s been about breaking down the barriers for global commerce,” Bansal told CNBC in an interview at Stripe’s office. “We’ve done it, to a large part, on traditional financial rails.”
Stripe’s approach to global payments for years involved navigating the complex regulatory and operational challenges in each market it entered. Bridge had developed “a super elegant solution to cross-border use cases” and had “meaningful traction with companies of all sizes,” Bansal said. “It just felt almost like a no-brainer to go and acquire them.”
Stripe paid a hefty price for a two-year old company, an amount that was about three times higher than Bridge’s valuation in a funding round in August.
Bansal framed the acquisition as a strategic step toward modernizing Stripe’s global money movement capabilities.
“We are working very closely together to figure out the right opportunities, where we should power our products with Bridge and, in fact, where we should do new product development on Bridge infrastructure,” she said. “That’s what the next few weeks look like.”
Stripe processes millions of cross-border transactions daily, a segment that’s growing 50% annually. Bansal said stablecoins could meaningfully reduce costs and streamline transactions compared to traditional financial networks.
Bansal used as an example a company in the U.S. paying a contractor in the Philippines, which she called “a common use case as company workforces are going global.”
Stripe has partnered with Remote.com, a global human resources and contractor platform, to process payouts using stablecoin infrastructure in more than 70 countries. Bansal said she sees stablecoins playing a growing role in foreign exchange and treasury management for large enterprises.
For now, Bridge will continue running its existing products, but the teams are working together to determine the best integrations and explore new products that can be built on Bridge’s technology.
“They’re clearly a leader in the space,” Bansal said about Bridge. “A lot of our conversations are about absorbing what Bridge has learned about stablecoins.”
WATCH: Fintechs soar after election
Several automakers, including Honda, Hyundai, Ford, and Kia, reported higher EV sales in the US in January. Here’s a look at some of the top-selling EV models (outside of Tesla) last month.
EV sales in the US by model in January 2025
With nearly 133,000 electric vehicles sold in December, EVs accounted for 8.8% of new car sales in the US, a new record.
According to Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book, the strong end-of-year sales helped push total EV sales to 1.3 million in 2024, up 7.3% from 2024.
With Trump reportedly planning to end electric vehicle incentives, like the $7,500 federal tax credit, demand is expected to pick up as buyers look to lock in the savings before they disappear.
Several automakers reported US sales numbers for January, giving us a better idea of how the EV market is playing out.
Ford sold 5,666 EVs last month, up 21% and a new January record. The Mustang Mach-E had its best January with 3,529 models sold, up 173% from January 2024. Last year, the Mach-E was the second best-selling electric SUV behind Tesla’s Model Y. This year, it’s already losing ground.
Despite higher demand for the Mach-E, Ford F-150 Lightning sales slipped 15% to 1,907 units. Ford’s E-Transit electric van sales also fell 80%, with only 230 models sold last month.
Kia sold 1,542 EV6 models sold last month. However, sales of its three-row EV9 were down slightly (1,232 vs 1,408 in January 2023).
Sister company Hyundai notched double-digit sales growth with its popular EV models. As the upgraded 2025 model (with more range and an NACS port for charging at Tesla Superchargers) rolled out, Hyundai IONIQ 5 sales climbed 54%, with 2,250 units sold in January. Although IONIQ 6 sales were up 15% year over year (YOY), only 871 models were sold.
| EV model | January 2025 sales |
| Honda Prologue | 3,744 |
| Ford Mustang Mach-E | 3,529 |
| Hyundai IONIQ 5 | 2,250 |
| Ford F-150 Lightning | 1,907 |
| Kia EV6 | 1,542 |
| Kia EV9 | 1,232 |
| Subaru Solterra | 1,052 |
| Hyundai IONIQ 6 | 871 |
The biggest surprise, again, was Honda. Honda’s electric Prologue continued to take the US by storm with another 3,744 models sold last month.
After delivering the first models last March, the Prologue was the seventh best-selling EV in the US in 2024. Honda sold over 33,000 Prologue’s in the US in 2024, beating out the Chevy Equinox EV (28,874) and Rivian R1S (26,934).
GM doesn’t report monthly US sales numbers, so we’ll have to wait until April for quarterly sales to compare. Several others have yet to report January US sales. Check back for the latest numbers.
Tesla doesn’t report monthly US sales numbers, but earlier today, Electrek reported that the EV maker saw its first annual drop in sales in California last year.
Are you in the market for a new electric vehicle? We can help you get started. You can use our links below to find deals on some of the most popular EVs in your area.
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![Genesis GV90 spotted looking like the ultimate ultra-luxury EV [Video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/11/Genesis-GV90-ultra-luxury-SUV-side.jpeg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Genesis is preparing to launch its largest, most luxurious electric SUV yet. The Genesis GV90 EV was spotted for the first time in South Korea, revealing its ultra-luxury design.
Genesis GV90 spotted as a new ultra-luxury EV
Although we actually got our first look at the Genesis GV90 last week after it was spotted on a carrier, the latest sighting gives us a much closer look, with a view from nearly every angle.
Genesis previewed the full-size electric SUV with the Neolun concept last March. The concept featured an impressive “reductive” design, with the signature Genesis two-tone headlamps and Crest grille displayed upfront.
With premium features, including coach doors, the GV90 is expected to compete with ultra-luxury brands like Rolls Royce and Bentley.
The GV90 will serve as a “tech beacon” for Hyundai and its luxury Genesis brand as it scales up. Inside, you can expect to see Hyundai Motor’s latest OS and connectivity tech. Like the Hyundai IONIQ 9, the GV90 is expected to include dual 12.3″ clusters and infotainment screens in a panoramic curved display, but the Genesis model will be over the top.
A new video from HealerTV gives us a better idea of what to expect. Despite the camouflage, you can see that the GV90 maintains much of its design based on the concept.
From the back, it almost looks like the GV70 Electrified, but you can tell it’s even bigger. Genesis kept other design elements, like the connected rear lights and bumper design, shown in the concept.
The side view shows slight changes from the concept, including the turn signals on the fender. Despite a slightly more “rounded” profile, much of the design remains the same. The two-line daytime running lights and other design elements are pulled from the concept.
Genesis is expected to unveil the GV90 later this year, with mass production set to begin in early 2026. It’s expected to be available in two trims: Standard or Exclusive.
The Standard model is rumored to start at around 100 million won ($80,000), while the Exclusive trim, which will include ultra-luxury features like the coach doors from the concept, could cost upwards of 200 million won ($160,000). It’s like to be limited to just a few models.
The Genesis GV90 will be the first Hyundai Motor EV to ride on its new “eM” platform, set to replace its current E-GMP. It will be built at Hyundai’s Ulsan EV plant in South Korea.
Would you buy the Premium Genesis GV90 model for around $160,000? In comparison, a 2024 Bentley Bentayga costs just over $200,000. Let us know what you think in the comments.
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KORE Power has scrapped plans for its $1 billion lithium-ion battery factory in Buckeye, Arizona, and its CEO and founder has resigned.
Idaho-based KORE Power announced plans to sell the site in Arizona originally designated for its 2-million-square-foot KOREPlex factory.
In an emailed statement, KORE said:
The company has recently undertaken a restructuring to provide more benefit to our customers and position the company for long-term success.
Plans for the KOREPlex in Buckeye, Arizona, will not move forward at this time.
The project, which was awarded an $850 million US Department of Energy loan in June 2023, was projected to bring around 3,000 jobs to the state. It was also positioned to be the first US-owned lithium-ion battery plant in the US.
KOREPlex would have featured multiple production lines to make batteries for EVs and battery storage systems. The factory would have produced nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) and lithium-ion iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells.
CEO Lindsay Gorrill also announced on LinkedIn that he is stepping down, and that president Jay Bellows is taking over as the new CEO. Gorrill will remain a member of the company’s board.
It is with great excitement that I announce Jay Bellows as the new CEO of KORE. Jay is a remarkable leader whose expertise, integrity, and dedication will undoubtedly take KORE to new heights. Having worked closely with him, I am confident in his ability to build on what we’ve achieved and lead KORE into a dynamic and successful future.
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