Compiled by: Felix, PANews

On June 12, American payment processor Stripe announced the acquisition of the crypto wallet infrastructure company Privy, which will be integrated into Stripe but will continue to operate as an independent product. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the coming weeks, with specific transaction terms yet to be disclosed.

What Makes Privy Different?

Privy's embedded wallet allows developers to create a simpler onboarding experience, such as enabling users to create a crypto wallet without having to remember or record a seed phrase. Additionally, Privy allows users to hold assets or perform actions directly within supported crypto applications without needing to connect to third-party wallets like MetaMask for transactions. For example, OpenSea uses Privy, allowing customers to purchase NFTs directly from its platform. Privy creates a wallet for consumers in the background, facilitating their purchases. Before this collaboration, OpenSea customers had to create an external wallet through providers like MetaMask or Coinbase Wallet and link it to their accounts.

Henri Stern, co-founder and CEO of Privy, stated in a press release: “When we first started, wallets were powerful, but only technically skilled individuals could use them. Developers had to guide users outside the platform to get started, which disrupted the user flow and hindered user conversion. This friction fundamentally limited the future development of the crypto space.”

Privy, based in New York, was co-founded by Stern and Asta Li, who was a founding engineer at Aurora before starting Privy. Stern previously worked as a researcher at Web3 company Protocol Labs. The startup was founded in 2021 and recently raised $15 million in a funding round led by Ribbit Capital, bringing its total funding to over $40 million. Other investors include Sequoia Capital, Paradigm, BlueYard, and Coinbase Ventures. According to Pitchbook data, Privy's latest valuation in March of this year was $230 million.

Privy claims that within three years, its technology has been widely adopted across the industry, supporting over 75 million accounts and 1,000 development teams, including mainstream crypto applications like Pump.fun, Hyperliquid, and OpenSea, as well as restaurant loyalty program startup Blackbird and global recruitment company Toku.

Regarding the acquisition of Privy, Patrick Collison, co-founder and CEO of Stripe, stated: “By unifying the platform and connecting Privy's wallet with the funding flow capabilities of Stripe and Bridge, we are excited to enable a new generation of global internet-native financial services.”

Stripe's Crypto Journey

Stripe's foray into crypto began in 2014. Stripe was one of the first payment companies to accept Bitcoin in 2014 but halted this service in 2018 due to scalability issues and high transaction fees. Nevertheless, the company insisted at the time that it was “very optimistic about the overall prospects of cryptocurrency.”

Stablecoins are Stripe's next attempt. In April 2024, the company announced that it would support stablecoin USDC payments this summer. Subsequently, in October, Stripe launched a public beta feature called “Pay with Crypto,” allowing U.S. businesses to accept stablecoin payments and automatically convert them to fiat currency deposited into their Stripe accounts. Supported stablecoins include USDC and USDP, covering Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon chains. In the first week of launching stablecoin payments, Stripe's stablecoin transaction volume exceeded its entire historical volume of Bitcoin transactions.

However, Stripe still lacked a key component, needing a seamless method for processing cross-border transactions. In November 2024, Stripe confirmed the acquisition of stablecoin payment platform Bridge for $1.1 billion, a deal that was ultimately completed in February 2025. This is Stripe's largest acquisition to date, marking a significant move in the stablecoin space. The acquisition of Bridge enables it to optimize cross-border payment solutions and expand its stablecoin payment infrastructure.

In May 2025, Stripe launched stablecoin accounts in over 100 countries/regions, aimed at helping merchants hold funds and make payments to overseas suppliers using USDC from Circle Internet Group Inc. and USDB stablecoin issued by Bridge.

A series of actions by Stripe indicates that the company intends to become the preferred provider for those looking to increase support for crypto products or launch their own crypto products, as companies ranging from large tech firms to traditional banks show strong interest in exploring crypto technology.

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