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Stripe, a leading fintech, has been on a spree for crypto startups this year. Bridge was Stripe’s first crypto acquisition. The February deal handed Stripe a regulated stablecoin orchestration platform (mint, burn, transfer stablecoins) that issues its own stablecoin, USDB. Bridge also issues custom stablecoins for enterprise clients through the same orchestration layer used for transfers and virtual accounts. Assets are custodied in segregated cash portfolios at BlackRock, Apex, and Fidelity. During the 2025 Stripe Sessions, co-founder John Collison compared Bridge and Stripe’s payment volume growth in their first 2 years. There is a clear need for stablecoin solutions, and the up-and-to-the-right nature of Bridge’s volume proves this out.  

Stripe’s strategy to vertically integrate the crypto value chain became more obvious this week when it agreed to acquire Privy, a wallet-infrastructure startup whose APIs abstract the complexity of key management and authentication for firms like OpenSea and Hyperliquid. Users can sign in with SMS, email, OAuth, or an existing wallet, then transact onchain, all without ever seeing a seed phrase. Privy already secures 75 million wallets for over 1,000 projects.

Stripe’s Stablecoin Financial Accounts are live in 101 countries and settle across ACH, SEPA, card networks, and multiple blockchains, giving merchants a single balance they can spend or payout almost anywhere. For developers, toggling from fiat rails to Solana or Base is now as simple as changing a parameter in a familiar REST call, and for end customers, the experience is indistinguishable from a traditional checkout. 

Regulatory tailwinds have recently supported the crypto industry. On June 11, the Senate advanced the GENIUS Act by a 68–30 margin, clearing the path for America’s first federal stablecoin statute and an institutional-grade licensing regime for issuers. This removes the political overhang that has kept fintechs cautious and will allow Stripe, Robinhood, and others to roll out crypto-native products with increased confidence. 

After a decade of investors chasing the elusive “Stripe of crypto,” it turns out the answer may simply be Stripe itself.

In this report, we explore how crypto-economic structures are enabling a new economy centered on the rapid production, distribution, and capitalization of high-velocity applications driven by AI-assisted development. As AI continues to democratize software creation, the demand for alternative economic frameworks will only grow, especially as attention becomes increasingly scarce and capital needs fall outside the scope of traditional financing models. In this evolving landscape, new platforms are emerging that integrate AI-assisted coding directly with capital formation, while novel social primitives accelerate network effects and capture attention across multiple channels. We call this the vibe economy.