Stripe Doubles Down on Crypto With Acquisition of Wallet Infrastructure Startup Privy

Stripe has intensified its commitment to digital assets with the acquisition of Privy, a crypto wallet infrastructure developer, marking a strategic expansion into blockchain services. The move follows Stripe’s reentry into the stablecoin ecosystem in late 2024, after a six-year hiatus.

Privy, a relatively low-profile player in the crypto space, supports the backend infrastructure for more than 50 million wallets globally. Despite the acquisition, Privy will remain an independent product within Stripe’s ecosystem, a decision that reflects Stripe's broader effort to integrate crypto technologies without compromising developer autonomy.

"We’ll keep building for developers working on crypto rails—now with more resources, flexibility, and firepower," Privy said in a statement on social media following the announcement.

The financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed, but Bloomberg confirmed the deal and cited increasing institutional interest in crypto infrastructure. Stripe's co-founder and President, John Collison, told Bloomberg that global financial institutions, including traditional banks, are exploring how to incorporate stablecoins into their offerings. “Banks are very interested in how they should be integrated with stablecoins into their product offerings,” Collison said.

Stripe's crypto revival began in October 2024 when it launched stablecoin payment capabilities through USDC, a dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Circle. Since then, the company has expanded these capabilities to clients in over 100 countries, allowing users to send and receive stablecoins with the same ease as traditional banking services.

The stablecoin market has ballooned over the past year, surpassing a $250 billion valuation. Yet the momentum comes amid growing concern from traditional financial players. NYU professor Austin Campbell recently commented that the U.S. banking lobby is "panicking" over the disruptive potential of yield-bearing stablecoins, warning that such innovations could undercut conventional banking models.

For Stripe, however, the acquisition of Privy signifies more than a tech upgrade—it’s a calculated bet on the future of programmable money and decentralized finance. By embedding wallet infrastructure directly into its platform, Stripe is positioning itself not just as a payments processor, but as a gateway to the next era of digital finance.