Sequoia Capital Untung Rp1.5 Trillion From Stripe Acquisition

Sequoia Capital made a profit of IDR 1.5 trillion from the acquisition of Stripe (Photo; Dk. Japan Times)

JAKARTA - Stripe, a global payment infrastructure provider, announced it will buy a US$1.1 billion stablecoin Bridge platform (Rp17.3 trillion). This marks one of the biggest deals in the crypto sector this year and provides fresh air for early investors, including Sequoia Capital, who will benefit significantly from their investments.

The giant Sequoia Capital venture capital is predicted to reap a profit of around 100 million US Dollars (Rp1.5 trillion) from the acquisition. Just a year ago, Sequoia poured 19 million US Dollars (Rp299 billion) into Series A Bridge funding, obtaining 16% of the shares. With the current acquisition value, the investment provided outstanding results in a relatively short time.

Apart from Sequoia, other investors such as Ribbit Capital, which owns nearly 10% of Bridge's shares, and Bedrock Fund Management and Index Ventures, each with 6% of shares, will also make a big profit. Haun Ventures, with 4% of the shares, helped secure their position in this deal.

Stripe announced the deal on October 20, 2024, highlighting their ambition of expanding the use of stablecoins. Bridge, founded by Sean Yu and Zach Abrams, provides software that allows companies to process payments using stablecoins. The move is in line with John Collison's statement, co-founder of Stripe, which previously pledged to adopt stablecoin technology by mid-2024. However, this acquisition still has to go through regulatory approval, and the process is expected to be completed in the next few months.

Bridge's acquisition by Stripe comes as interest in blockchain technology and stablecoins continues to grow among financial institutions. Bridge's role in providing stablecoin-based payment solutions caught Stripe's attention, which sees great opportunities in this market to facilitate fast and efficient cross-border transactions.

The deal comes amid a significant decline in global crypto funding. According to a report from Galaxy Digital on October 15, 2024, venture funding in the crypto sector decreased 20% to US$2.4 billion (Rp37.8 trillion) in the third quarter of 2024. The number of deals that occurred also fell 17%, with only 478 projects receiving funds. This decline illustrates what analysts call a "barbell market," where investor attention tends to be centralized to large crypto assets such as Bitcoin and high-risk projects, such as meme coins, while many medium projects struggle to gain support.