Stripe appoints Privy CEO to lead crypto and stablecoin expansion
Stripe has appointed Henri Stern, the co-founder and CEO of Privy, to lead its crypto and stablecoin strategy. Stern will take on this role around October 5, 2026, while continuing to oversee Privy, a wallet company acquired by Stripe last year.
Stern’s new responsibilities include managing Stripe’s stablecoin card programs and developer offerings. Privy, which Stripe bought in 2025, provides embedded wallets that allow apps to integrate crypto wallets without requiring users to install separate apps or memorize seed phrases. The platform supports over 160 million accounts and processes billions in monthly volume for more than 2,000 developers and businesses.
Stripe has been strategically acquiring companies to build a comprehensive stablecoin developer infrastructure. In addition to Privy, it purchased Bridge for $1.1 billion, a stablecoin orchestration platform. The company aims to combine wallets, orchestration, card issuing, and asset issuance into a single product. One of Stern’s key goals is to expand Stripe’s stablecoin-linked card programs to over 100 countries by the end of 2026, with recent monthly spending on these programs reaching about $1.2 billion.
Stern advocates for an ‘open stack’ approach, ensuring developers are not locked into Stripe’s ecosystem. The company’s strategy includes keeping Stern as Privy’s CEO to maintain continuity and concentrate decision-making. For the stablecoin market, Stripe’s push could significantly increase distribution, putting stablecoin balances in front of merchants globally. However, expanding to 100 countries by the end of 2026 presents execution risks due to varying local regulations.