Of the $58 million, Sequoia and Ribbit have recently invested $40 million.
Zach Abrams and Sean Yu, two former executives of Square and Coinbase, founded Bridge, a global stablecoin payment network, and have raised $58 million in funding.
The funding round saw contributions from major investors including Sequoia, Ribbit, and Index Ventures, according to a Fortune report.
Of the $58 million, $40 million came from recent investments made by Ribbit and Sequoia, demonstrating the growing interest in stablecoins and their potential to transform international finance.
Bridge to Facilitate Cross-Border Payments
Stablecoins are used in Bridge’s platform to enable cross-border payments, providing a quicker and more affordable option than traditional financial networks.
High-profile clients like Coinbase and SpaceX have been drawn to this.
In example, SpaceX uses Bridge’s services to process payments in various currencies and turns them into stablecoins that it can integrate into its international treasury operations.
Bridge has raised a total of $58M in funding since its launch
— TOP 7 ICO | #StandWithUkraine🇺🇦 (@top7ico) August 30, 2024
Bridge (@StableCoin), a Web3 payment firm, has secured a total of $58M in funding since its launch. Started by former @coinbase and #Square employees, the firm has backers including @sequoia, @RibbitCapital,… pic.twitter.com/OJSmL24yd9
“Fintech is deeply rational. If you can do something that is faster, cheaper, and more economical, you win,” Abrams said in an interview with Fortune.
He asserted that Bridge’s goal to transform the payments industry is based on this philosophy.
Apart from its alliances with top companies, Bridge also works with cryptocurrency platforms such as the Stellar blockchain and the Strike app.
By enabling the infrastructure required for smooth stablecoin transactions, these partnerships strengthen Bridge’s standing within the fintech industry.
Stablecoin Market Continues to Expand
Notwithstanding earlier difficulties, the stablecoin market is still growing.
As previously reported, after 11 months of steady growth, the stablecoin market’s total capitalization shot to a record $168 billion.
The market had previously reached its peak in March 2022 at $167 billion, but by the end of the year, it had dropped sharply to $135 billion.
The most popular stablecoin, Tether (USDT), has been essential to this expansion.
At the start of 2024, USDT had a market cap of $91.69 billion.
It has since seen consistent monthly growth, and by August, its market capitalization had surpassed $117 billion.
Additionally, Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) has increased in value over the course of the year, peaking in 2024 at a market cap of over $34 billion.
That being said, this is still a lot less than its peak of $55.8 billion in June 2022.
Despite the market cap growth, stablecoin trading volumes have declined.
A CCData report showed that trading volumes fell 8.35% to $795 billion in July, with fewer transactions occurring on centralized exchanges and regulatory worries in Europe being the main causes.
According to CoinMarketCap, the declining trend has continued into August, with trading volumes currently slightly above $46 billion.
Notably, the stablecoin market remains largely unregulated.
Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Cynthia Lummis collaborated to draft a new bill last month that would regulate stablecoins.
Payment stablecoin issuers would be subject to reserve and operational requirements under the proposed legislation, which would include setting up subsidiaries specifically for the purpose of issuing stablecoins.