Stripe Eyes Potential Acquisition of PayPal

Stripe is considering an acquisition of all or parts of PayPal (PYPL), according to a Bloomberg report. The talks come as PayPal’s stock has dropped 19% since the start of the year and its payment growth slowed, yet shares rose 13% following the buyout news.

Stripe was recently valued at $159 billion after a secondary sale of shares to employees and investors. In January, it acquired Metronome, a billing systems company, and aims to reach $1 billion in annual revenue this year.

The report noted that deliberations are still in the early stages. If completed, the deal would unite two major payment firms that have both moved into stablecoins, with Stripe also expanding further into crypto through its acquisition of Bridge and developing the Tempo payments-focused blockchain in partnership with venture firm Paradigm.