China News by Thebittimes.Com

Layer-1 blockchain Aptos (APT) has announced a plan to integrate fintech giant Stripe’s payment services and the stablecoin USDC. Stripe’s payment services will provide a fiat on-ramp for the Aptos network, according to a new press release from the layer-1 project. Circle chief executive Jeremy Allaire says the new development is part of the stablecoin company’s efforts to scale USDC. “USDC + CCTP + Aptos = high-performance, very powerful programmable money infrastructure. Excited for the upcoming launch!” Stripe reemerged in the crypto sector last month when it rolled out support for USDC settlements. The payments giant previously enabled payments made using Bitcoin (BTC) until 2018, when the firm discontinued its support, citing BTC’s lack of utility as a payments rail. Aptos’ native token, APT, is trading at $11.98 at time of writing. The 27th-ranked crypto asset by market cap is down nearly 1% in the past 24 hours bu...

TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington says payments giant Stripe has completed the acquisition of stablecoin startup Bridge. In an X post referencing a report about Stripe’s discussions to acquire Bridge, the tech publication executive says the $1.1 billion purchase of Bridge is a done deal. A Bloomberg report last week indicated that Stripe had been in talks to acquire the stablecoin firm, which offers a product that lets enterprises use stablecoins USDT and USDC to receive and send payments. The report indicated that Bridge had raised $58 million in startup funding from investors that included Sequoia and Haun Ventures, a crypto-focused venture capital firm founded three years ago by former Coinbase board member Katie Haun. Bridge raised $40 million in its most recent Sequoia-led Series A round. Stripe’s acquisition of Bridge comes a little over a week since the payments company announced it would offer global support for settlements by merchants using the USDC...