Bridge, a global stablecoin payment network founded by former Square and Coinbase executives Zach Abrams and Sean Yu, reportedly raised $58 million. Bridge aims to develop a global payment network rivaling traditional systems like Swift and credit cards, with funding from investors including Sequoia, Ribbit, and Index.
Major Success for the Bridge Team
According to a Fortune report, Bridge secured $58 million in previously undisclosed funding, including a recent $40 million investment from Sequoia and Ribbit. Bridge’s current customer base includes Coinbase and SpaceX. In an interview with Fortune, Abrams explained the strategy:
“Fintech is extremely rational; if you can do something faster, cheaper, and more economically, you win.”
According to the Fortune report, Bridge has high-profile customers like Elon Musk‘s SpaceX. SpaceX uses its services to collect payments in various currencies across different regions and transfer them to its global treasury via stablecoin projects. Bridge also collaborates with cryptocurrency companies like the Stellar ecosystem and Bitcoin application Strike to provide infrastructure for stablecoin payment functions.
What’s Happening in the Stablecoin Sector?
According to data from CoinMarketCap, the total stablecoin market capitalization is currently around $177.24 billion. As shown in the graph below, the two leading stablecoin projects, Tether and USD Coin, dominate the market with market capitalizations of $118.22 billion and $34.6 billion, respectively.
The stablecoin market experienced a significant downturn in 2022 when TerraUSD (UST) lost its peg to the US dollar, causing a catastrophic collapse that wiped out billions in value. The event not only eroded investor confidence but also led to intense regulatory scrutiny, culminating in a lawsuit filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in February 2023.
Despite setbacks, the stablecoin market remains an attractive alternative investment vehicle. Traditional finance company PayPal introduced PayPal USD (PYUSD), backed 1:1 by the US dollar and issued by Paxos Trust Company, a US-regulated crypto custodian. Competing with other regulated dollar-backed stablecoins like USDC, PYUSD recently surpassed a total market capitalization of $1 billion.
