- Stripe acquires Privy, adding 75M wallets and Web3 tools
- Part of Stripe’s bigger blockchain push, alongside Bridge and stablecoins
- It’s becoming clear: Stripe is going deep on crypto infrastructure
Stripe just made another sharp move — the kind of move that doesn’t make noise with fireworks but instead rewires a key piece of the crypto infrastructure puzzle in silence.
By acquiring Privy, the white-label wallet and onboarding startup that now supports 75 million wallets across 1,000 apps, Stripe is clearly doubling down on crypto. And it’s not their first dance.
Privy’s explosive growth since its founding three years ago has been hard to ignore. It started with simple goals — make onboarding and wallet creation easier for developers building crypto-native apps. But it scaled fast.
We’re talking from 50 million to 75 million wallets in a matter of months. That kind of growth doesn’t go unnoticed, especially when your tech is already powering user flows for Web3 brands like OpenSea, Farcaster, and Zora.
Now put that next to Stripe’s recent plays. Just last month, they launched stablecoin financial accounts, hot on the heels of their $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge, a stablecoin infrastructure firm.
Stripe is moving intentionally — piece by piece — building a foundation for a future where crypto isn’t a separate world, but just finance. Normal, regulated, fast, interoperable finance.
This Privy acquisition is more than just user onboarding. It’s the missing connective tissue between developers, stablecoin accounts, and the everyday consumer.
Imagine: seamless onboarding, tap-to-pay wallet functionality, access to stablecoins, all embedded into apps people already use.
Stripe isn’t just supporting crypto anymore — it’s architecting the rails for it.
And let’s not overlook the strategic alignments here. Stripe board member Matt Huang from Paradigm, an early crypto fund, and backing from Sequoia — both of whom also backed Privy. This wasn’t just synergy. It was design.
Stripe is no longer just the payments company powering e-commerce. With moves like these, it’s turning into the silent operator behind the next evolution of global finance — one where wallets, stablecoins, and onboarding aren’t the barrier, but the beginning.
