Stripe to acquire crypto wallet provider Privy after $1.1B stablecoin deal

Key Takeaways

Stripe agreed to acquire crypto wallet provider Privy, enhancing their financial services offering.
Like Bridge, Privy will continue operating independently.

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Stripe is acquiring Privy, a New York-based crypto wallet infrastructure firm, as part of its ongoing expansion into the digital asset space. The move follows Stripe’s $1.1 billion purchase of Bridge, a stablecoin infrastructure firm.

“Privy will continue as an independent product – but now we’ll move faster, ship more, and serve you even better, so you can stay focused on your users,” Privy said in a Wednesday statement. The companies did not disclose the financial details of the deal.

Commenting on the deal, Stripe CEO Patrick Collison said Privy could help strengthen Stripe’s goal of building a secure, internet-native financial infrastructure for the global economy.

“Money has to reside somewhere, and Privy builds the world’s best programmable vaults,” said Collison. “Alongside our other stablecoin work, we’re looking forward to enabling a new generation of global, internet-native financial services.”

Publicly open in early 2024, Privy is designed to streamline onboarding into consumer crypto applications by providing developer libraries and embedded wallet solutions that operate natively within apps.

The approach reduces friction by allowing users to sign up with familiar methods like email, while wallets are created and managed behind the scenes, avoiding reliance on external wallets like MetaMask.

The company is backed by top-tier investors, including Sequoia Capital, Paradigm, Coinbase Ventures, and Ribbit Capital.

With Stripe’s backing, Privy can now help more developers build apps that improve financial infrastructure, said Sequoia in a congratulatory note to the team.

“Joining Stripe will allow Privy to serve its existing customers with greater resources, and to empower more developers in changing how value moves through the internet,” according to Sequoia. “We have seen the benefits of that partnership with Stripe’s acquisition of Bridge earlier this year, and we believe this is just the beginning of a huge journey for Privy.”

Completion of the deal is expected within a few weeks, subject to the fulfillment of closing conditions.

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