Stripe expands stablecoin infrastructure and appoints Henri Stern to lead crypto efforts

Stripe is pivoting its crypto strategy from experimental projects to core financial infrastructure by integrating stablecoins into its global payment stack. A central part of this shift is the appointment of Henri Stern, co-founder of Privy, to lead Stripe’s crypto and stablecoin efforts. Stern will continue to run Privy, which Stripe acquired in 2025 to leverage its embedded wallet technology that supports over 160 million accounts.

Stripe is building a comprehensive settlement layer by combining Privy’s wallet infrastructure with Bridge, a stablecoin orchestration platform acquired for $1.1 billion. This stack aims to bridge the gap between legacy fiat systems and digital asset settlement.

The company has set a concrete goal to expand its stablecoin-linked card programs to more than 100 countries by the end of 2026. Current monthly spending on these programs has reached approximately $1.2 billion, with enterprise clients including Kraken, Ramp, and Morse utilizing the platform.