Exodus Movement (EXOD), a publicly traded cryptocurrency wallet company, announced on Monday that it will acquire Grateful, a Uruguay-based startup that offers stablecoin-based payments for merchants.
The move is aimed at expanding Exodus’ presence in Latin America and deepening its foothold in the commercial sector, especially among gig workers and small businesses looking for faster and cheaper ways to get paid, Exodus CEO JP Richardson said in a press release.
Grateful’s software allows merchants to accept stablecoins through tools such as wallet-to-wallet payments, QR POS checkout, and on-chain invoicing. The company also offers a dashboard to manage transactions and convert cryptocurrencies to local currencies. Exodus plans to integrate these features into a self-custodial wallet system that supports major blockchains, including Solana. sol$167.02 and ARB$0.2988.
Exodus stock rose 5% on Monday following a broader rally in stocks related to digital assets such as Bitcoin. BTC$106,028.55 and other cryptocurrencies were acquired over the weekend.
The deal marks the latest entry in a growing list of cryptocurrency M&A aimed at building payment infrastructure on blockchain networks, as demand for stablecoins increases in global transactions. Earlier this year, payments company Stripe acquired stablecoin technology provider Bridge and wallet company Privy to strengthen its cryptocurrency payments stack. In a separate transaction, XDC Network acquired Contour and transformed it into a stablecoin-based blockchain platform for trade finance. Keyrock and Bitso predict that with institutional adoption and regulatory clarity, the volume of stablecoins used for payments could reach $1 trillion annually by the end of this decade.
“Grateful is a natural complement to our efforts to expand access to digital payments and cryptocurrencies in Latin America,” said Richardson. “Gig and creator economies are growing rapidly in emerging markets, and stablecoin-based payment rails enable important tools such as invoicing, recurring payments, and on-chain payments.”
In keeping with the trend of stablecoin payments, Exodus earlier this year announced Baanx’s Mastercard crypto debit card, which allows customers to pay in USDT. USDT$0.9999 and USDC$1.0000 stablecoin.
Read more: Stablecoin payments will exceed $1 trillion annually by 2030, says market maker Keylock
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