Mastercard has agreed to acquire stablecoin infrastructure company BVNK in a deal valued at up to $1.8 billion, further expanding into blockchain-based payments.
The deal includes up to $300 million in contingent payments and is intended to strengthen Mastercard’s ability to connect fiat payment rails with onchain transactions, the company said on Tuesday.
“We expect that most financial institutions and fintechs will in time provide digital currency services, be it with stablecoins or tokenized deposits,” Jorn Lambert, chief product officer at Mastercard, said.
BVNK, founded in 2021, provides infrastructure that allows businesses to send and receive payments across major blockchain networks in more than 130 countries. Its platform is designed to bridge fiat currencies and stablecoins, enabling use cases such as cross-border payments, payouts and business transactions.
Related: Cari picks ZKsync’s Prividium as US regional banks join stablecoin race
Coinbase walks away from BVNK deal
In November 2025, Coinbase and BVNK announced they had mutually walked away from a proposed $2 billion acquisition that had reached the due diligence stage. No reason was disclosed for the cancellation of the deal.
BVNK has received investment from a number of major traditional payment firms. In May 2025, Visa made a strategic investment in the company through its Visa Ventures arm, which came after the stablecoin infrastructure company closed a $50 million Series B funding round led by Haun Ventures.
In October 2025, Citigroup’s venture arm, Citi Ventures, also invested in BVNK. While the investment size was not disclosed, BVNK said at the time that its valuation had surpassed $750 million.
Related: Stablecoins to replace old FX rails, but off-ramps remain a chokepoint
Stablecoins could power global payments within 15 years
Last week, billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller said stablecoins and blockchain technology could reshape global payments within the next decade, citing their speed, efficiency and lower costs compared to traditional systems. He argued that stablecoins could eventually replace existing payment rails, even as he remains skeptical about crypto’s role as a long-term store of value.
His comments come as traditional financial firms increasingly explore stablecoin-based systems following regulatory progress, including the GENIUS Act in the US.
Magazine: Bitcoin may take 7 years to upgrade to post-quantum — BIP-360 co-author
