🪙 Stripe's new bromance with the wild west of finance

For two years, crypto has been stuck in a long winter. Market crashes, bankruptcies, and regulatory battles made even the most bullish investors rethink their bets.

But something is shifting. Stablecoins (cryptocurrencies pegged to traditional assets like the U.S. dollar) are gaining ground, big institutions are creeping back in, and now, fintech giant, Stripe has made its boldest move yet, dropping $1.1 billion to acquire Bridge, a crypto payments platform. Stripe once walked away from Bitcoin in 2018, calling it impractical for payments. Now, it’s making one of the biggest Web3 acquisitions in recent years—hinting at renewed investor confidence in the sector.

It’s not a full-blown comeback just yet. Crypto payments still have hurdles to clear, and regulation remains unpredictable. But with money starting to move again in the industry, Stripe’s play could be the signal that blockchain-powered payments are gearing up for their next chapter.

Either way, Stripe just made its stance clear: crypto isn’t quite dead—it may just be waiting for the right builders.

— Kelechi

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