The team behind crypto payments app Valora is joining Stripe as the payments giant increasingly expands into blockchain technology and stablecoins, Valora founder Jackie Bona said in a blog post on Wednesday.
“We have seen firsthand how access to stablecoins and cryptocurrencies can expand economic opportunities,” Bona said. “Over 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.”
Valora is a mobile-focused crypto payments app built on a layer 2 Ethereum network. The startup emerged from cLabs, the development organization behind Celo, in 2021 and raised $20 million at the time.
A Stripe spokesperson confirmed the news to CoinDesk, adding that “the Valora team’s expertise in crypto wallet infrastructure and on-chain development tools brings valuable expertise to our ongoing crypto efforts.”
The news follows Stripe’s recent efforts to incorporate cryptocurrencies into its payment capabilities, as stablecoins become popular cross-border payment tools. The company recently acquired stablecoin infrastructure company Bridge and wallet app Privy. It also developed (in conjunction with crypto investment firm Paradigm) a payments-focused blockchain called Tempo, designed for stablecoin payments. Tempo is already in a testing phase.
Read more: Why Circle and Stripe (and many others) are launching their own blockchains
