Visa Abandons $5.3B Acquisition of Plaid Over DOJ Antitrust Concerns

Visa called off its acquisition of Plaid, the fintech firm serving as a fiat bridge for a number of crypto and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.

• The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday that the two companies have officially called off their planned $5.3 billion merger in the wake of the DOJ's lawsuit last year that sought to block the deal.
• The DOJ filed a civil antitrust suit on Nov. 5, 2020, to stop the merger, claiming Visa is a monopolist in online debit, charging both consumers and merchants billions of dollars in fees each year to process online payments. 
• "Now that Visa has abandoned its anticompetitive merger, Plaid and other future fintech innovators are free to develop potential alternatives to Visa's online debit services," Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim said in a statement. "With more competition, consumers can expect lower prices and better services."
• As CoinDesk previously reported, Plaid has worked with Coinbase and at least two DeFi startups.
• The DOJ reported that Plaid earned approximately $100 million in revenue in 2019.