Exodus Acquires Grateful to Expand Stablecoin Payments in Latin America

TL;DR

• Crypto wallet firm Exodus has acquired Grateful, a startup offering stablecoin-based payments for merchants.

• The acquisition would allow Exodus to expand stablecoin payments in Latin America.

Exodus Acquires Grateful

Exodus Movement (EXOD), a publicly-traded crypto wallet firm, announced on Monday that it had completed the acquisition of Uruguay-based Grateful, a startup offering stablecoin-based payments for merchants.

In its press release,  Exodus CEO JP Richardson said the acquisition aims to expand its presence in Latin America and provide services to gig workers and small businesses looking for faster, cheaper ways to get paid.

Exodus added that Grateful’s software enables merchants to accept stablecoins via tools like wallet-to-wallet payments, QR point-of-sale checkout, and onchain invoicing. Grateful also offers a dashboard to manage transactions and convert crypto into local currencies. 

With the acquisition now complete, Exodus intends to integrate these features into its self-custodial wallet system, which currently supports major blockchains including Solana and Arbitrum. 

Richardson added that, 

Grateful is a natural complement for our efforts to expand access to digital payments and cryptocurrency in Latin America. The gig and creator economy is rapidly growing in emerging markets, and stablecoin-based payment rails allow for important tools such as invoicing, recurring payments, and on-chain settlements.

This acquisition comes as cryptocurrency companies have intensified M&A deals in recent months as they build payments infrastructure on blockchain networks, thanks to the growing demand for stablecoins in the global payment ecosystem. 

Mastercard is currently in talks to acquire crypto and stablecoin infrastructure provider ZeroHash for up to $2 billion, marking one of the payment giant's biggest bets on blockchain technology and stablecoins. Last week, Ripple also completed its acquisition of Palisade to strengthen its institutional crypto custody and payment services as corporations enter the digital asset market.