Stripe, Bridge and BVNK: Stablecoin payments compared 2026

Three firms — Stripe, Bridge and BVNK — provide different options for enterprises that want to accept or issue stablecoins in 2026. Mastercard announced in March 2026 that it will acquire BVNK for up to $1.8 billion; the deal is expected to close before the end of 2026.

Stripe integrates stablecoin acceptance into its existing merchant payments platform. The company is valued at about $159 billion and processes roughly $1.4 trillion in annual payments for more than 5 million merchants. Stripe supports USDC and Open USD in its dashboard so merchants can add stablecoin checkout without a separate vendor integration. Stripe acquired Bridge in February 2025 for $1.1 billion and added wallet features with its 2025 acquisition of Privy. On June 30, 2026, Stripe joined more than 140 partners to launch the Open USD consortium and has designated Open USD as the default stablecoin for Stripe-powered businesses.

Bridge operates as a standalone, developer-focused stablecoin infrastructure platform. It provides an Orchestration API that unifies receive, store, convert and spend flows across fiat and stablecoin rails. Bridge’s Open Issuance product lets businesses launch branded stablecoins backed by USDC with reserve yield managed by asset managers; Bridge advertises reserve yields of about 3% to 4% for issuers. Bridge runs its own USDB token and reports more than 10 branded stablecoin deployments by mid-2026, including MoneyGram’s MGUSD and MetaMask’s mUSD. Bridge markets itself as ready to meet GENIUS Act rules finalized in July 2026.

BVNK focuses on enterprise treasury and cross-border payouts. The firm processes roughly $30 billion in annualized stablecoin volume across about 2.8 million transactions, a 2.3x year-on-year increase. BVNK’s clients include Worldpay, Visa Direct, Deel and Rapyd. The company holds more than 25 regulatory licenses covering 130-plus markets, including money transmitter licenses in all 50 U.S. states, a Malta EMI with MiCA passport, a UK EMI license and a Spain VASP registration. BVNK maintains SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001:2022 certifications and supports ACH, SEPA, Fedwire, SWIFT and Faster Payments for fiat on- and off-ramps.

Pricing and onboarding differ across the three providers. Stripe lists stablecoin transactions at about 1.5% as a native feature through its dashboard. Bridge’s Open Issuance model shifts reserve yield to issuers rather than charging a standard per-transaction fee; enterprise pricing is not publicly posted. BVNK offers volume-based enterprise processing fees reported between roughly 0.3% and 2% plus FX spreads of 0.5% to 2%; BVNK requires enterprise onboarding and does not offer self-serve branded issuance.

Regulatory posture varies by platform. Bridge promotes GENIUS Act–ready issuer status. BVNK’s license coverage satisfies GENIUS Act equivalence in the U.S. and MiCA requirements via its Malta EMI. Stripe’s compliance posture is tied to its Open USD commitment and the governance of the Open Standard consortium.

Recent 2026 developments include BVNK’s pending acquisition by Mastercard, Bridge’s branded stablecoin deployments such as MoneyGram’s MGUSD in June 2026, and Stripe’s public proposal to acquire PayPal for $53 billion announced on July 15, 2026. All three firms report activity linked to institutional stablecoin use and cross-border payout demand in 2026.