Stripe, one of the giants in the payment industry, is becoming increasingly "close" to the world of cryptocurrency through its latest acquisition. The company has just reached a deal to acquire Privy, a company specializing in cryptocurrency wallet infrastructure.
According to announcements from both sides on Wednesday, the cryptocurrency wallet infrastructure company #Privy has agreed to be acquired by Stripe. The deal is expected to close in the coming weeks, bringing Privy under Stripe but still allowing the company to operate as an independent product. The specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Patrick Collison, CEO of #Stripe , posted on X (formerly Twitter): "Money needs to reside somewhere, and Privy builds the best programmable 'vaults' in the world. Along with our other work on stablecoins, we aim to facilitate a new generation of global, internet-native financial services."
Active cryptocurrency users engaging with consumer applications may have interacted with Privy without realizing it. Best known for its embedded wallet technology, Privy enables developers to create simpler signup experiences, such as allowing users to create cryptocurrency wallets without needing to memorize or write down complex recovery phrases.
Additionally, Privy's embedded wallet allows users to hold assets or perform actions directly within supported cryptocurrency applications, rather than needing to connect a third-party wallet like MetaMask to execute transactions. In just three years, Privy's technology has been widely adopted in the industry, supporting over 75 million accounts and 1,000 developer teams, including major cryptocurrency applications like Pump.fun, Hyperliquid, OpenSea, and more. By joining Stripe, Privy aims to further accelerate that development pace.
The company wrote on Wednesday: "Today, digital ownership and financial systems operating the modern world are intersecting more than ever. Like us, Stripe believes in the power of bringing cryptocurrency and fiat closer together, deeply connecting these systems to the point where the differences become almost meaningless." "Joining Stripe will accelerate our work to shape this future and provide new powerful capabilities for both Stripe and Privy customers," the announcement continued. "Together, we can change how value moves on the internet."
This acquisition is another part of Stripe's deepening involvement with cryptocurrency, after announcing plans for stablecoin financial accounts in May. Last October, the payment company acquired the stablecoin payment platform Bridge for $1.1 billion after integrating Avalanche's layer-1 blockchain earlier that year.
Stripe was one of the first payment companies to accept Bitcoin in 2014 but then halted this service in 2018 before refocusing on cryptocurrency last year.
Privy's representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment from #Decrypt . A representative from Stripe pointed to Collison's post on X as the company's official comment.