Stripe Acquires Team Behind Valora Crypto Wallet
Stripe has acquired the team behind Valora, a mobile-first crypto wallet focused on stablecoins and emerging markets.
What’s the scoop?
- Team Acqui-hire: Stripe is bringing on the Valora team, led by founder Jackie Bona, to accelerate its stablecoin initiatives; terms and headcount were not disclosed.
- App Stays Independent: The Valora wallet app and its IP remain with cLabs (the original Celo development studio) and will continue development there.
- Latest in a String: The move follows Stripe’s $1.1B acquisition of Bridge in October 2024, its purchase of Privy earlier this year, and the rollout of Open Issuance for custom stablecoins.
- Strategic Fit: Valora specialized in simple P2P stablecoin transfers on Celo, targeting regions like Africa; Stripe sees stablecoins as a core upgrade to global money movement.
Bankless Take:
So far, Tempo has focused on developing a stack to equip major companies and the regions they operate in, primarily the United States, with stablecoins. With this latest acquisition, they look to be expanding into emerging markets given Valora and Celos’ focus. This comes as Tempo’s public testnet goes live meaning we’re one step closer to mainnet and Tempo’s gearing up for a big debut.