Capital One to acquire stablecoin payments infrastructure firm Brex

Capital One (Capital One) is acquiring fintech firm Brex (Brex), stepping up its push into the corporate payments and spend management market.

Capital One said on the 22nd (local time) that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Brex in a mixed stock-and-cash deal valued at $5.15 billion (about $7 trillion). The transaction is expected to close in mid-2026, subject to customary closing conditions.

Brex is an AI-native financial software company that offers corporate card issuance, automated spend management, and real-time payment capabilities on a single platform. A key strength is its use of AI agents to automate complex finance workflows such as spend approvals, expense reviews, and anomalous transaction detection.

In particular, it drew attention after announcing in September last year that it would introduce USDC-based stablecoin payment features. This is designed to let customers handle corporate card payments, remittances, and fund collections on a single platform that integrates stablecoin and dollar-based payments. An automated FX conversion feature is intended to lower the friction of using stablecoins.

Richard Fairbank, Capital One's founder, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), said, "Since our founding, we have had the goal of building a payments company at the forefront of technological innovation," adding that "the Brex acquisition will serve as a catalyst to accelerate that journey, particularly in the corporate payments market."