Mastercard has agreed to acquire stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK in a deal valued at up to $1.8 billion, reinforcing its push into digital assets and blockchain-powered payments.
The agreement, announced on Tuesday, includes up to $300 million in contingent payments and is expected to close before the end of the year, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
This acquisition represents one of Mastercard’s most significant steps into digital currencies, as financial institutions increasingly explore stablecoins and tokenised deposits to improve cross-border payments, remittances, and business transactions.
Mastercard said that evolving technology is reshaping how value moves between individuals and businesses. Blockchain-powered digital assets offer the potential to make payments faster, more efficient, and programmable. According to the company, digital currency payment use cases reached at least $350 billion in transaction volume in 2025.
“We expect that most financial institutions and fintechs will in time provide digital currency services, be it with stablecoins or tokenised deposits,” said Jorn Lambert. “We want to support them and their customers with a best-in-class, highly compliant, interoperable offering that brings the benefits of tokenised money to the real world.”
Mastercard noted that integrating on-chain payment rails into its network would enable greater speed and programmability across a wide range of transactions while maintaining the security and compliance standards associated with traditional payment systems.
While card payments currently dominate consumer transactions globally, stablecoins and crypto wallets are increasingly offering opportunities for peer-to-peer transfers, cross-border remittances, business-to-business payments, and other digital currency use cases.
Founded in 2021, BVNK provides infrastructure bridging traditional fiat currencies and stablecoins, allowing businesses to send and receive payments across major blockchain networks in more than 130 countries.
“For all of the advancements made in simplifying the digital currency opportunity, we have only scratched the surface of what’s possible,” said Jesse Hemson-Struthers. “This deal brings together complementary capabilities to define and deliver the future of money. Together, we’re able to deliver an unprecedented infrastructure for digital currency-based financial services.”
Mastercard said the acquisition will create interoperable payment solutions connecting fiat and digital currency systems across multiple blockchain networks. The deal also complements its broader digital asset strategy, including the Crypto Partner Program, which aims to expand fintech collaborations and accelerate on-chain payment innovations.
The combined platform is expected to adopt a digital asset- and blockchain-agnostic approach, allowing financial institutions and businesses flexibility to choose solutions best suited to their needs without being locked into closed ecosystems.
