📝#98: Stripe Bets Big on Stablecoins
Stripe acquires Bridge for $1.1B. Avalanche's new Visa card. Buenos Aires launches digital ID. Stablecoin on/off ramp raises $33M. Nike's digital collectibles for Melbourne. Pudgy comes to Walgreens.
Hey, it’s Marc ✌️
Week by week we now see big headlines around stablecoins. Just last week Ripple entered the stablecoin race. This week, Stripe acquired Bridge for $1.1B, the largest acquisition in crypto history to date. Bridge allows businesses to seamlessly accept stablecoins.
Stripe has 21% share of the global payment processing market. This is a massive catalyst for stablecoin adoption and positions Stripe at the forefront of the crypto payments revolution.
My highlight: Delphi’s crypto x AI programming. Check it out here.
Plus: Keep up with our signals for Web3 execs on our Telegram channel.
Let’s dive in 🦈
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📚 What we’re reading (& writing)
Crypto's Role In The AI Revolution. Pantera Capital. Link
Agents on Crypto Payment Rails [Podcast]. The Delphi Podcast. Link
Generative AI’s Act o1. Sequoia. Link
The future of stablecoins and regulation [Panel]. CNBC. Link
Transforming Asset Servicing with AI, Oracles, and Blockchains. Chainlink. Link
The Verge for Ethereum. Vitalik. (for our techies) Link
World’s First Blockchain-based Identity Solution
Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, introduced QuarkID, the first government-backed blockchain-based digital identity solution.
QuarkID is integrated into the city’s MiBa digital platform, enabling 3.6M citizens to access services and documents like birth certificates and tax records.
It uses zero-knowledge (ZK) cryptography and is powered by ZKsync.
Key Features of QuarkID:
Privacy: Citizens can verify credentials like age without revealing personal data.
Ownership: Residents own their credentials, stored securely on their devices.
Security: No personal information is exposed or stored on-chain.
Why it matters: Buenos Aires is the first major city to launch a government-backed, blockchain-based digital identity solution integrated into a widely-used city service platform.
A few use cases of QuarkID:
It enables governments to verify citizenship and eligibility for digital voting.
Citizens can verify their age without revealing their birthdates.
Citizens can verify documents like driver's licenses by a simple QR scan.
The big picture: Countries like India, Estonia, and Singapore have implemented government-backed digital identity systems. QuarkID can serve as a blueprint for other cities seeking blockchain-based identity solutions, offering enhanced security against identity theft while safeguarding citizens’ personal information—something traditional systems struggle to achieve.
What they’re saying:
“By giving residents control over their identities, we’re not only improving privacy and security, but we’re also setting the foundation for a future where personal data ownership is a basic right.”
Diego Fernández, the city’s Secretary of Innovation and Digital Transformation
🍏Today’s Top PRO Bite:
Stripe acquires Bridge for $1.1B
Stripe is acquiring Bridge for $1.1B to scale tokenized dollars globally.
Bridge’s tech allows businesses to seamlessly accept payments in stablecoins.
In September 2024, it secured $58M Series A from Sequoia and Ribbit.
Why it matters: Stripe is the world's second most used payment solution with a 21% share of the global payment processing solutions market across 195 countries.
The big picture: Global players including Visa, SWIFT, BlackRock, and PayPal are betting on stablecoin payments. Stablecoins are evolving beyond the cryptocurrency ecosystem with their faster and cost-effective cross-border transaction capabilities.
By the data: Stablecoin market cap is over $172M, with a growth of 44% YoY.
90% of stablecoin transactions are executed by proprietary traders, hedge funds, and market makers—mainly to balance liquidity across platforms.
The big picture: This acquisition positions Stripe at the forefront of the crypto payments revolution. This deal could pave the way for more widespread use in mainstream finance. Expect to see more players following suit.
👉 We are going to publish a deep dive on the stablecoins soon, subscribe to access:
🚨 Highlights You Can’t Miss
Avalanche introduced the “Avalanche Card” with Visa for payments. Link
Boson turns gaming into IRL sales by bridging Roblox and e-commerce. Link
Pudgy Penguins released exclusive Pudgy toys with Walgreens. Link
NEAR Foundation launched an AI Accelerator program, supporting Web3 x AI. Link
PayPal now allows Venmo users to buy and sell crypto via MoonPay. Link
Nike let 35K participants of Melbourne Marathon claim digital medals via Coinbase. Link
🏦Regulatory Snapshot
Argentina's securities regulator (CNV) is consulting on a draft to regulate virtual asset service providers (VASPs), proposing a minimum capital requirement of nearly $173K for crypto companies. Link
💰 Money Moves
Funding Rounds:
Yellow Card: Stablecoin on/off ramp raises $33M in Series C funding. Link
Opacity Network: Data verification platform raises $12M in seed funding. Link
Variational: Crypto trading platform raises $10.3M co-led by Bain Capital Crypto and Peak XV Partners. Link
Mento Labs: Digital asset solution raised $10M led by T-Capital. Link
That’s all for now, folks.
Talk soon,
– Marc & Team
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