Stripe, which processed $1.9 trillion in transactions last year and was recently valued at $159 billion, is considering acquiring all or part of PayPal (PYPL), according to a Bloomberg report.
Considerations are at an early stage, the report continued.
If completed, the deal would bring together two major payments companies that have both moved into stablecoins.
PayPal launched its dollar-backed stablecoin in 2022 through issuer Paxos. The token has since grown to a market cap of around $4 billion. It allows users to move dollars across crypto networks at any time of the day, often at a lower cost than bank transfers.
Stripe has also pushed deeper into crypto. In 2024, it bought Bridge for $1.1 billion, a company that builds tools for businesses and crypto projects to issue their own US dollar-backed tokens. Stripe is also working with venture firm Paradigm to develop Tempo, a payments-focused blockchain now in testing.
PayPal has struggled mightily in recent years, and the stock is down about 80% from record highs in 2021. Shares were already higher this week on acquisition talk, and were up another 7% late Tuesday in the wake of the Stripe report.
Read more: Stripe’s Bridge sees stablecoin volume quadruple as utility insulates from ‘crypto winter’
