Payments giant Stripe has acquired the team behind crypto wallet company Valora, just one day after rolling out the testnet for Tempo, its stablecoin-focused blockchain project.
Valora CEO Jackie Bona said the entire team will join Stripe to support the company’s expanding blockchain initiatives.
Launched in mid-2021 after spinning out from Celo development group cLabs — alongside a $20 million Series A raise — Valora built a mobile wallet supporting stablecoins and other assets across Celo, Ethereum, Base, Optimism and Arbitrum. The team also created an open-protocol launchpad aimed at delivering mobile-native Web3 app experiences.
“Stripe shares our conviction that stablecoins and crypto can dramatically expand who gets to participate in the global economy,” Bona said, noting that the move will bring Valora’s Web3 and user-experience expertise to a platform with global reach.
While Stripe hasn’t detailed exactly what the Valora team will be working on, the acquisition brings in a group with deep experience in global payments, digital wallets, and mobile-friendly Web3 applications.
“Through this work, we’ve seen firsthand how access to stablecoins and crypto rails can expand economic opportunity,” Bona added. “In the past few months, it became clear that we could accelerate this mission by joining Stripe, one of the world’s leading financial infrastructure platforms.”
The Valora app will remain operational, but its ongoing management and future development will transition back to cLabs.
Momentum builds for Stripe and Tempo
After years of wavering engagement with crypto, Stripe has significantly ramped up its blockchain efforts over the past two years. That acceleration has been especially evident since the company revealed Tempo four months ago in collaboration with crypto venture firm Paradigm. The network has already amassed a $5 billion pre-launch valuation.
Stripe’s latest move arrives just one day after Stripe and Paradigm’s layer-1 blockchain project, Tempo, opened its testnet to the public.
A highlight of the testnet debut was the ability to create stablecoins directly in the browser, showcasing the network’s focus on simplicity and accessibility, among other features.
