Stripe’s acquisition of Privy is fuelling excitement about mainstream crypto adoption.
On Wednesday, the $91.5 billion fintech giant announced its purchase of the crypto wallet provider, but didn’t disclose the financial details of the deal.
It’s another step towards Stripe’s goal of building out a crypto payments ecosystem to tap into the $251 billion stablecoin market, according to Matthew Mena, a crypto researcher at 21Shares.
“Privy gives Stripe the missing puzzle piece: user-facing wallet infrastructure,” Mena told DL News. It “rounds out what’s becoming a full-stack crypto infrastructure play.”
Stablecoin blueprint
The move follows the payment giant’s previous acquisition of Bridge, a stablecoin infrastructure firm, in February.
Stripe is in the vanguard of traditional financial firms tapping stablecoins and blockchains for payments.
If Stripe’s crypto strategy pays off, it could drive a new wave of adoption and provide a blueprint for other firms to follow.
The stablecoin market is growing at its fastest pace since 2021, adding over $50 billion since the start of the year. It recently reached an all-time high of $251 billion in circulation.
“As infrastructure matures and user demand grows, we expect the stablecoin market to expand rapidly, potentially reaching $1 trillion by as early as next year,” Mena said.
And it’s just the start. Ripple and Boston Consulting Group estimate that tokenised assets will grow to a $19 trillion business over the next eight years.
Stripe isn’t the only non-crypto native firm excited about the potential of stablecoin payments.
Just last week, Uber, X, Airbnb, and Apple all reportedly began exploring stablecoin integrations.
PayPal and SpaceX are already using them in production, and banks such as Santander and Société Générale have launched their own, Mena said.
‘Reality is most people won’t interact with traditional crypto wallets.'
Adam Morgan McCarthy, Kaiko
“There is a lot of excitement around the stablecoin use case among traditional financial institutions,” Katalin Tischhauser, head of research at Sygnum Bank, the digital asset bank, told DL News.
The eye-popping performance of the Circle IPO and Stripe’s strong build up in the space are recent demonstrations of this, she said.
If stablecoins continue to see increased adoption, it could also benefit the underlying blockchains that facilitate stablecoin issuance and transfers.
Ethereum, which currently hosts nearly half the stablecoin market, could see a surge in activity and fee revenue as new users interact with stablecoins through consumer apps without even realising they’re using blockchains, Mena said.
It’s still unclear which blockchain stands to benefit the most. Stripe currently lets users accept stablecoin payments on Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon.
Why Privy?
Firms like Stripe are adopting crypto rails for payments to harness speed and efficiency benefits and become less dependent on centralised banking infrastructure.
But getting such a system working is difficult. Companies need to decide on which blockchain to use, which stablecoins to support, and provide their users with infrastructure to navigate the new system.
Unlike other non-custodial wallets like MetaMask, Privy abstracts much of the complexity of using a crypto wallet away. Privy’s clients include NFT platform OpenSea and restaurant loyalty startup Blackbird.
“Reality is most people won’t interact with traditional crypto wallets,” Adam Morgan McCarthy, a research analyst at Kaiko, told DL News.
“Integrating this tech seamlessly with existing user interfaces is the game changer.”
The acquisition aligns closely with Stripe’s core business which is to simplify and expand digital payments for businesses and consumers, Satish Patel, an analyst at CoinShares, told DL News.
M&A boom
Stripe’s purchase also adds to the growing number of high-profile crypto acquisitions in recent months.
In June, Robinhood completed its $200 million acquisition of Bitstamp, the crypto exchange.
In May, Coinbase paid $2.9 billion for crypto options exchange Deribit. And in January, USDC issuer Circle bought Hashnote, the world’s largest tokenised treasury fund.
Stripe hasn’t disclosed the details of the Privy acquisition. However, Privy was valued at $230 million in March 2025, according to PitchBook data.
“It is likely [Stripe] paid a healthy premium above this valuation, reflecting Privy’s growth and the buoyant state of the crypto market,” Patel said.
Tim Craig is DL News’ Edinburgh-based DeFi Correspondent. Reach out with tips at [email protected].
