Bridge Ventures, Stripe’s multibillion-dollar stablecoin subsidiary, appears to be listed in documents as having sold 12 Mitsubishi trucks to a Venezuelan company with ties to the family of former President Hugo Chavez.
Stablecoin company acquired by Stripe for $1.1 billion Exact street address, room number, city, state, zip codeappears on the shipping bill that sent the truck to a company in Venezuela via a port in New Jersey.
At the time of the shipment, Venezuela was under extensive U.S. sanctions targeting a number of companies and their proxies linked to Chavez’s government’s state oil company PdVSA.
Bridge categorically denies any involvement in the transport. “Whatever this is, it has nothing to do with us. Bridge has no involvement in this package or any related payment activity,” a spokesperson told reporter Jason Mikula.
“The only explanation we can think of is a clerical error or confusion regarding a common name like Bridge.”
However, while the platform’s letter-for-letter name is not particularly common, the addresses listed on both bills of lading match U.S. Patent and Trademark Office filings and third-party business registries such as Bloomberg.
Mikula tweeted her suspicions that a third party had used Bridge’s name without permission and published the article.
Thundernet, Hugo Chavez family connection
The purchaser of both truck shipments from “Bridge Ventures Inc.” was Thundernet, California, an internet provider based in Barinas, Venezuela.
Thundernet is part of Grupo Nemer, a conglomerate of dozens of companies in Venezuela, Panama, and the United States with close ties to the Chávez government.
for example, Hugo Chavez’s youngest brotherAdelis was previously the owner of Zamora Football Club, based in Barinas. The club is currently run by Omar Jose Nemer Ilced, the eldest son of Syrian-born Atef Salami Nemer Hilced, head of Grupo Nemer.
The soccer club’s sponsor switched from PdVSA to Thundernet.
Furthermore, investigative news agency Armando.info reported in 2021 that Nemar Hilched maintained close ties with him. Another Chavez brotherAdan Chavez Frias.
Adan served as Barinas state governor and Venezuelan ambassador to Cuba, a relationship that is said to have helped Grupo Nemer take over the bankrupt state-run agricultural company.
Exact name match and Bridge rejects it
Mikula said the shipping documents worsen an already questionable compliance record.
In January 2026, he disclosed Stripe’s connections through Bridge’s stablecoin platform to Contigo, a Venezuelan cryptocurrency exchange rumored to have ties to the son of ousted President Nicolas Maduro.
Maduro has been president of Venezuela since 2013, replacing Chavez.
Additionally, as of November 2025, Bridge & Stripe executives were praising Venezuela as a showcase for stablecoins.
Bridge subsequently reclassified Venezuela from “restricted” to “prohibited” in its sanctions compliance documents.
The timing coincided nicely with the aftermath of Contigo and Bridge’s pursuit of a national trust bank charter from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which conditionally approved its application after downwardly revising Venezuela in February 2026.
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The entity on the bill of lading is not listed on OFAC’s list of Specially Designated Nationals. However, Venezuela’s broad program-level sanctions likely target government agents.
Grupo Nemer’s opaque, multi-jurisdictional corporate structure makes it extremely difficult to verify beneficial ownership.
Both shipments departed from Jebel Ali Port in Dubai, transited through Morocco, and then Newark, New Jersey. I saw the same Gmail address both List the seller/consignor and buyer/consignee on the document.
