Stripe’s Ill-Timed Crypto Re-Entry; SBF Needs to Stay Off Signal

My colleagues have been busy covering the latest at payments giant Stripe, which is in talks with existing investors that include Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital to raise $3 billion. Those talks are likely to value Stripe at $55 billion to $60 billion—a far cry from the $95 billion valuation it landed in its last funding round in early 2021. 

Stripe’s business has been slowing as e-commerce growth stalls out, as my colleague Cory Weinberg reported last week, and the company has been trying to land more big customers. But while Stripe has recently been touting partnerships with big sellers including Amazon, it’s worth remembering that it had been going after crypto customers too.