Latest news with #ZachAbrams
CNBC
11 hours ago
- Business
- CNBC
What's driving Wall Street stablecoin interest? Trillions, and maybe biggest global money-moving shift since credit cards
After a brief pullback this week, shares of stablecoin issuer and recent IPO darling Circle were in rally mode again, soaring double-digits on a percentage basis in trading on Thursday, after having moved up by more than 600% percent since its debut on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this month. Bitcoin and ether have led a recent crypto rise, as digital assets joined the resumption of the risk-on rally, with additional factors such as the potential for lower interest rates later this year, some more moderate talk from the White House on tariffs, and at least temporary easing of tensions in the Middle East. But when it comes to Circle and the stablecoin boom, there's a more fundamental driver as Wall Street interest in the technology continues to evolve: more action in the space. For example, Fiserv debuted a stablecoin earlier this week. Mastercard then linked that stablecoin to its network. Credit cards are a good place to understand the opportunity, according to Zach Abrams, Bridge co-founder and CEO, who told CNBC's MacKenzie Sigalos that the market is estimated to grow into the trillions and could be the biggest global money-moving shift since the introduction of credit cards. Some of the top private companies are already making major use of stablecoins today. Abrams cited the example of ScaleAI, into which Meta just invested over $14 billion, and which uses Bridge to pay data labelers all over the world. SpaceX also uses Bridge to convert payments made for its Starlink internet services in local currencies and bring it back to the U.S. "We think that stablecoins are an entirely new money-movement platform, like credit cards were decades ago," he said in an interview for Thursday's "Crypto World." "[Credit cards] created trillions in value and I think stablecoins will be the same," he said. "We think it's going to be a very big change that will play out over many years," he added. Bridge was recently acquired by private fintech giant Stripe for $1.1 billion. Abrams said as regularity clarity increases, more traditional financial players will want to get in on the opportunity. Stablecoins, less than a decade old, are today a $400 billion market, and Abrams says that if, as most banks think, the market "will get to a few trillion" it is a market where peeling off some of that share has to be a focus. Today, it is served almost entirely by Tether and Circle, he said. Ultimately, there is a role not just for big financial firms like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, but Fiserv and local banks. In fact, the move up to trillions in stablecoin market value won't happen, Abrams said, without "a huge percentage" being handled by traditional financial institutions. Wall street's embrace of tokenization keeps growing in other ways as well. New York-based investment startup Republic announced on Thursday it will allow users to buy tokens that represent private companies like SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic. Republic will offer these tokens for a minimum of $50, lower than the roughly $10,000 typically required for investing in private companies. In other crypto news of note on Thursday: Ripple and the SEC can't put their legal battle behind them, yet. A federal judge rejected the joint motion by the crypto firm and the regulator to endorse Ripple's reduced $50 million fine to settle the civil lawsuit over the alleged sale of unregistered securities, saying they lacked the authority to make the deal. Ripple-linked cryptocurrency XRP was down over 2% on Thursday. Ripple's chief legal officer Stu Alderoty laid out the company's options in an X post. Also, more from "Crypto World" on the news that first broke yesterday that the Trump administration is working to let home buyers include their crypto in federal mortgage applications.
CNBC
12 hours ago
- Business
- CNBC
Federal judge rejects SEC and Ripple's joint motion to settle lawsuit: CNBC Crypto World
On today's episode of CNBC Crypto World, stablecoin issuer Circle resumed its rally after a brief pullback this week. Plus, the Federal Housing Finance Agency has issued a directive ordering Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to formally consider crypto as an asset in single-family mortgage loan risk assessments. And, Zach Abrams the CEO of Bridge, discusses the wave of stablecoin interest on Wall Street.
Business Wire
30-04-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Visa and Bridge Partner to Make Stablecoins Accessible for Everyday Purchases
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Stablecoins – once a technology confined to crypto communities – are making their way into headlines, dinner party conversations and soon, everyday transactions. Visa (NYSE:V), a global leader in digital payments, and Bridge, a leading stablecoin orchestration platform and a Stripe company, today announced a new card-issuing product. Fintech developers using Bridge can now offer stablecoin-linked Visa cards to their end customers in multiple countries through a single API integration. Cardholders will be able to make everyday purchases from a stablecoin balance at any merchant location that accepts Visa. For example, when a customer in Colombia shops locally and uses their Bridge-enabled Visa card to pay a merchant, Bridge deducts the requisite funds from the customer's stablecoin balance and converts the balance into fiat, enabling the merchant to get paid in their local currency like any other transaction. Customers can add these cards to supporting digital wallets and pay at the 150M+ merchant locations that accept Visa. "We're focused on integrating stablecoins into Visa's existing network and products in a frictionless and secure way," said Jack Forestell, Chief Product and Strategy Officer, Visa. "Partnering with Bridge represents a significant move in helping to make stablecoins usable in everyday life, giving consumers more choice in how they manage and spend their money." Developers building with Bridge can now easily add stablecoin-linked Visa cards to their product offerings and manage these programmatically through Bridge in multiple countries. Behind the scenes, Bridge moves and converts stablecoins from and to those cards on behalf of developers. Bridge is working with Lead Bank as a financial institution partner. The integration enables issuance of new card programs in multiple countries at once, starting with Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Chile. The focus on Latin America aims to address the growing demand for consumers and businesses to utilize stablecoins to store value and fund everyday purchases. Availability will expand to countries in Europe, Africa and Asia in the coming months. 'This is a massive unlock for developers who can now build truly scalable issuing products for their users,' said Zach Abrams, CEO and Co-Founder, Bridge. 'Everyone already knows how to use cards for payments, and now everyone will be able to use stablecoins with just a tap of their card.' About Visa Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at About Bridge, a Stripe company Bridge is the leading platform for stablecoin orchestration, simplifying the ability for users to transact on crypto rails by abstracting away the complexities of using blockchains. Bridge builds stablecoin infrastructure that enables users to seamlessly transition between fiat currency and stablecoins, helping global businesses manage, store, and move money. Bridge was acquired by Stripe in February 2025.
National Post
30-04-2025
- Business
- National Post
Visa and Bridge Partner to Make Stablecoins Accessible for Everyday Purchases
Article content SAN FRANCISCO — Stablecoins – once a technology confined to crypto communities – are making their way into headlines, dinner party conversations and soon, everyday transactions. Visa (NYSE:V), a global leader in digital payments, and Bridge, a leading stablecoin orchestration platform and a Stripe company, today announced a new card-issuing product. Fintech developers using Bridge can now offer stablecoin-linked Visa cards to their end customers in multiple countries through a single API integration. Article content Cardholders will be able to make everyday purchases from a stablecoin balance at any merchant location that accepts Visa. For example, when a customer in Colombia shops locally and uses their Bridge-enabled Visa card to pay a merchant, Bridge deducts the requisite funds from the customer's stablecoin balance and converts the balance into fiat, enabling the merchant to get paid in their local currency like any other transaction. Customers can add these cards to supporting digital wallets and pay at the 150M+ merchant locations that accept Visa. Article content 'We're focused on integrating stablecoins into Visa's existing network and products in a frictionless and secure way,' said Jack Forestell, Chief Product and Strategy Officer, Visa. 'Partnering with Bridge represents a significant move in helping to make stablecoins usable in everyday life, giving consumers more choice in how they manage and spend their money.' Article content Developers building with Bridge can now easily add stablecoin-linked Visa cards to their product offerings and manage these programmatically through Bridge in multiple countries. Behind the scenes, Bridge moves and converts stablecoins from and to those cards on behalf of developers. Bridge is working with Lead Bank as a financial institution partner. Article content The integration enables issuance of new card programs in multiple countries at once, starting with Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Chile. The focus on Latin America aims to address the growing demand for consumers and businesses to utilize stablecoins to store value and fund everyday purchases. Availability will expand to countries in Europe, Africa and Asia in the coming months. Article content 'This is a massive unlock for developers who can now build truly scalable issuing products for their users,' said Zach Abrams, CEO and Co-Founder, Bridge. 'Everyone already knows how to use cards for payments, and now everyone will be able to use stablecoins with just a tap of their card.' Article content Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Article content Bridge is the leading platform for stablecoin orchestration, simplifying the ability for users to transact on crypto rails by abstracting away the complexities of using blockchains. Bridge builds stablecoin infrastructure that enables users to seamlessly transition between fiat currency and stablecoins, helping global businesses manage, store, and move money. Bridge was acquired by Stripe in February 2025. Article content Article content Article content Article content Media Contacts: Article content V isa Jackie Dresch jdresch@ Article content Article content Article content
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Stripe Tests New Stablecoin Project as $3.7T Market Looms
Stripe is preparing to test a new stablecoin payments product aimed at companies based outside the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union. The company's CEO, Patrick Collison, confirmed on social media that Stripe had been planning this offering for nearly a decade and is now opening it up to pilot users. The announcement comes after Stripe received regulatory approval to acquire Bridge, a payments platform founded by former Coinbase executives Zach Abrams and Sean Yu. Bridge's infrastructure offers an alternative to traditional systems like SWIFT for cross-border transactions. Stripe's stablecoin pilot project comes at a time when companies ranging from crypto firms to TradFi banks are piling into the industry, trying to grab a piece of the red-hot sector. In fact, Citi said stablecoins could be a "ChatGPT" moment for blockchain adoption, and the market, primarily pegged to the U.S. dollar, could grow up to $3.7 trillion by 2030 with regulatory support. Stripe has a long history with crypto. It was the first major payment processor to support bitcoin payments back in 2014, though it later dropped the feature over BTC's slow transaction speeds and in to access your portfolio
