Mastercard to acquire stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK for up to $1.8 billion

Mastercard said Tuesday it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK for up to $1.8 billion, including $300 million in contingent payments.

The deal is intended to expand Mastercard’s support for digital assets and enable interoperability between fiat payment rails and blockchain-based systems, according to a statement.

The acquisition comes as stablecoin payment use cases continue to scale, with volumes reaching at least $350 billion in 2025, according to a recent Boston Consulting Group report. Mastercard said financial institutions and fintechs are increasingly seeking to offer services built around stablecoins and tokenized deposits, particularly as regulatory clarity improves across multiple jurisdictions.

Mastercard said BVNK’s infrastructure will complement its global payments network by enabling new use cases such as cross-border remittances, payouts, and business-to-business and peer-to-peer payments. The company also pointed to longer-term applications in areas such as capital markets and treasury management, where programmability and faster settlement could address existing inefficiencies.

Connecting onchain and traditional payment rails

Mastercard said the key to unlocking these use cases lies in integrating blockchain-based payment rails with existing fiat systems while maintaining compliance, security, and reliability standards. The acquisition will deliver “trusted interoperability at scale” across multiple blockchain networks and traditional financial infrastructure, the firm added.

“We expect that most financial institutions and fintechs will, in time, provide digital currency services, be it with stablecoins or tokenized deposits,” Mastercard Chief Product Officer Jorn Lambert said. “Adding onchain rails to our network will support speed and programmability for virtually every type of transaction.”

Founded in 2021, BVNK provides infrastructure that enables businesses to send and receive payments across major blockchain networks in more than 130 countries. CEO Jesse Hemson-Struthers said the deal would combine complementary capabilities to “define and deliver the future of money,” adding that the companies aim to build “an unprecedented infrastructure for digital currency-based financial services.”

The transaction follows a competitive acquisition process that previously involved Coinbase, which had explored a roughly $2 billion deal for BVNK before talks ended in November. Earlier reports indicated both Mastercard and Coinbase had pursued the company, with projected valuations ranging between $1.5 billion and $2.5 billion.

The deal comes amid a broader wave of investment in stablecoin infrastructure, including Stripe’s $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge in 2024.

Mastercard has expanded its activity in the sector in recent months, including launching a crypto partner program with more than 85 digital asset firms to develop enterprise use cases such as remittances, settlement, and payouts.

The BVNK acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close before the end of the year.