Stripe acquires Bridge for $1.1 billion, Robinhood acquires Bitstamp for $200 million

Payment company Stripe has not signed a long-term vendor contract with a third-party stablecoin API, but instead acquired it for $1.1 billion after achieving an annual cross-border transaction volume of $5 billion on Bridge, integrating the stablecoin infrastructure into its global checkout layer.

Financial technology platform Robinhood has not expanded its international business through external trading venues, but instead acquired cryptocurrency trading platform Bitstamp for $200 million, gaining over 50 global regulatory licenses and institutional liquidity.

From 2012 to 2018, early-stage B2B fintech startups paid traditional banks for proof-of-concept pilot fees; from 1996 to 2001, telecom infrastructure startups raised over $500 billion to lay dark fiber.