Stripe’s stablecoin subsidiary is embroiled in a “Venezuelan truck shipment” transaction controversy; Bridge urgently denies any involvement in sanctions risk

Gate News reports that stablecoin subsidiary Bridge Ventures Inc., which is part of payments giant Stripe, has fallen into a public controversy. A shipping document circulating in the market shows that an entity named Bridge Ventures Inc. sold and shipped 12 Mitsubishi trucks to a company in Venezuela. The transaction route involves U.S. ports, prompting outside questions about compliance risk.

In response, Bridge quickly said it had “nothing to do with” the deal, emphasizing that it neither participated in shipping nor processed any related payments, and suggesting it could be a clerical error in the paperwork or a mix-up of names. However, the disclosed information indicates that the company name and address listed on the bill of lading closely match publicly registered details, leaving the matter still questionable.

Further investigation shows that the consignee is Thundernet, an internet service provider in Barinas, Venezuela, with ties to Grupo Nemer behind it. The group has a complex corporate structure in Venezuela, Panama, and the United States, and has been accused of having connections to the family of former President Hugo Chávez. This background makes the incident even more sensitive in an environment where the United States has imposed broad sanctions on Venezuela.

Analysts note that although the entity involved in the bill of lading does not appear on the U.S. Treasury’s sanctions list, Venezuela’s “project-level sanctions” may cover indirect parties involved in government-related conduct, and the compliance boundary remains unclear. In addition, the documents also show that the shipper and consignee emails are the same, further intensifying doubts about the authenticity and structure of the transaction.

Notably, earlier, Jason Mikula disclosed that Bridge may have a potential connection to the Venezuela platform Kontigo, which has been alleged to be related to the family of Nicolás Maduro. After that, Bridge adjusted its internal sanctions classification, and in February 2026 received conditional approval from U.S. regulators for its application for a banking license.

This incident highlights the compliance complexity that stablecoin firms face during global expansion. As cross-border payments and on-chain finance continue to converge, pressure on businesses in sanctions screening, identity verification, and transaction transparency is steadily rising.