Company explainer

What Is Bridge?

Bridge is the stablecoin company Stripe bought for $1.1 billion. It now issues Open USD, lets businesses launch their own stablecoins, and powers stablecoin cards. Here is what it does.

Updated November 6, 2026

Short answer

Bridge is Stripe's stablecoin infrastructure arm. It issues Open USD (live since September 30, 2026), runs Open Issuance for companies that want their own stablecoin, powers stablecoin-backed cards through Stripe Issuing, and received conditional OCC approval for a national trust bank in February 2026.

What Bridge does

  • Orchestration: APIs to accept, hold, convert and send stablecoins and fiat
  • Issuance: it issues Open USD for Open Standard and white-label stablecoins for other companies
  • Cards: stablecoin-backed card programs integrated with Stripe Issuing
  • Wallets: through Privy, another Stripe company, for embedded wallets

Open Issuance and Open USD

Open Issuance lets any business launch its own stablecoin in days, with Bridge handling reserves, liquidity and compliance. Coins built this way include Phantom's CASH, MetaMask's mUSD and Hyperliquid's USDH, and Klarna announced KlarnaUSD on it.

Bridge is also the issuer of Open USD (OUSD), the stablecoin of Open Standard, founded by Coinbase, Mastercard, Shopify, Stripe and Visa. OUSD went live on September 30, 2026 and is the default stablecoin across Stripe's products.

Stablecoin cards

Since April 2026, Bridge's stablecoin-backed cards are integrated with Stripe Issuing, adding physical cards and commercial programs. They were available in 30 countries at that point, with a target of more than 100 by the end of 2026. Gate US used Bridge and Stripe to launch its Gate Card, issued by Lead Bank on Visa, in about six months.

Regulation and scale

The OCC granted preliminary conditional approval for Bridge National Trust Bank on February 12, 2026, which would let it issue stablecoins, custody assets and manage reserves under federal supervision once final approval is granted. Stripe's 2025 annual letter said Bridge's volume more than quadrupled in 2025.

Stripe announced the Bridge acquisition in October 2024. Stripe itself is private; see how to invest in stablecoins for listed alternatives.

FAQ

Bridge, answered

What is Bridge in crypto?

Bridge is a stablecoin infrastructure company owned by Stripe. It provides APIs to move and convert stablecoins, issues stablecoins for other companies including Open USD, and powers stablecoin-backed cards.

Who owns Bridge?

Stripe, which acquired Bridge for $1.1 billion. Bridge operates as a Stripe company alongside Privy and the Tempo blockchain that Stripe co-incubated.

Does Bridge have a bank charter?

It has preliminary conditional approval from the OCC, granted February 12, 2026, to form Bridge National Trust Bank. Final approval had not been announced as of November 2026.

What stablecoins does Bridge issue?

Bridge issues Open USD (OUSD) for Open Standard and white-label stablecoins through Open Issuance, including Phantom's CASH, MetaMask's mUSD and Hyperliquid's USDH.

Can I invest in Bridge?

No. Bridge is part of Stripe, which is private. Listed companies with exposure to the same ecosystem include Shopify, Visa, Mastercard and Coinbase, Open USD's other founding partners.

Sources: OCC Corporate Decision 1365 (February 12, 2026); CoinDesk (February 17, 2026); Bridge blog (April 29, 2026, Gate US case study); Stripe blog (Open Issuance, OUSD launch); Open Standard (September 30, 2026). Not investment advice.

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