The bridge acquisition shows traditional finance’s interest in stablecoins. Crypto custodian Kominu has announced a deal for Singaporean custody provider Propane Holdings. Major crypto firms are considering going public soon, and Bitcoin mining M&A is a trend.
Payments giant Stripe has bought stablecoin startup Bridge for $1.1 billion — the largest crypto acquisition by a major fintech, according to analysts at Bernstein.
“It’s hard to imagine a more fundamentally disruptive challenge to the traditional banking system: payments without bank involvement,” said Eric Risley, managing partner analyst at Architect Partners. Blog post About the deal.
And this is just the beginning of crypto deals, with prices rising and companies established in traditional finance looking to integrate with blockchain technology.
Here are all the important crypto deals to watch out for.
Gita bought the bridge
As big as Stripe’s acquisition is, it’s more than just this deal — it validates stablecoins as a primary use case for blockchain technology, Bernstein analysts said in a research note.
Bridge provides APIs that help developers integrate stablecoin payments into their businesses, without the hassle of dealing with the underlying blockchain technology.
The company, backed by investors including Rabbit, Sequoia and Haun Ventures, has raised $58 million in funding rounds.
Stripe joins rival PayPal in tapping blockchain technology for more efficient payments. PayPal launched its own stablecoin last year.
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Crypto custodian Kominu — founded in 2018 as a joint venture of Japanese banking giant Nomura, asset manager CoinShares and wallet provider Ledger — announced today that it will acquire Singaporean custody provider Propane Holdings.
If regulators approve the deal, Kominu will gain a foothold in Singapore, a major hub for both crypto and traditional finance.
IPOs
Circle said it plans to list the shares to the public in an initial offering in January and could seek regulatory approval as soon as this year.
Circle issues USDC, the second largest stablecoin after Tether.
The company tried to go public with a special purpose acquisition company in 2022, but the deal fell through.
There is the Kraken A similar IPO move has been planned for years Amid a dispute with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2025.
fireblocks, It says it is in no rush for an IPOMore to follow.
Fireblocks creates software to move, store and issue digital assets. Its customers and investors include banking giants such as BNY Mellon and BNP Paribas.
Merger of miners
The bridge contract follows a trend in the Bitcoin mining industry. Several publicly-traded bitcoin miners have merged from stock buy-outs this year.
In June, bitcoin miner CleanSpark acquired rival miner Grid in a $155 million all-stock deal.
Then in August, Bitfarms Earned Stronghold Digital Mining for $125 million while fending off a takeover attempt by Riot Platforms.
However, Bitfarms increased its ownership with riots 20% In the past month, the minor takeover battles look set to continue.
Crypto market movers
Bitcoin traded flat today and is trading at $67,196. Ether has fallen slightly over the past 24 hours to $2,635.
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