Mastercard agreed to buy BVNK, a stablecoin infrastructure company, for as much as $1.8 billion as it looks to bolster its use of the digital assets for international payments.
By integrating BVNK’s technology, Mastercard aims to connect onchain payments to its global network, enabling use cases such as cross-border transfers, remittances and business-to-business payments, the company said Tuesday.
BVNK provides the technology to bridge traditional fiat systems with blockchain-based transactions, allowing businesses to move money in seconds across more than 130 countries. Its infrastructure, used by firms including Worldpay, Deel and Flywire, processes $30 billion a year, the U.K.-based company said in a blog post.
BVNK’s capabilities complement Mastercard’s existing card network, expanding options for moving money across both traditional fiat systems and blockchain-based rails, investment bank William Blair said in a note.
“We see Mastercard’s BVNK acquisition as further affirmation of the stablecoin market for cross-border commerce, rather than B2C payments, which are well served by card,” the bank said.
The acquisition also highlights Mastercard’s growing push into digital assets as the adoption of stablecoins — digital tokens whose value is pegged to a conventional financial asset — accelerates. Just last week, it announced its Crypto Partner Program, which brings together more than 85 companies from across the digital asset and payments industries in an effort to link blockchain technology more directly with the infrastructure that underpins global commerce.
“We expect that most financial institutions and fintechs will in time provide digital currency services,” said Jorn Lambert, Mastercard’s chief product officer, in a statement. The deal will help bring “the benefits of tokenized money to the real world.”
Those capabilities complement Mastercard’s existing card network, expanding options for moving money across both traditional fiat systems and blockchain-based rails, investment bank William Blair said in a note.
Stablecoin payment volumes reached at least $350 billion in 2025, according to the company, with increasing regulatory clarity prompting banks and fintechs to explore offerings tied to tokenized deposits and blockchain-based money movement.
The agreement comes several months after Coinbase ended $2 billion acquisition talks with the stablecoin startup. At the time, a Coinbase spokesperson declined to provide a reason for the talks’ collapse.
The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to close before the end of the year.
UPDATE (March 17, 12:45 UTC): Adds details on transaction, background starting in third paragraph, Coinbase’s approach in sixth.
UPDATE (March 17, 15:56 UTC): Adds analysis from investment, quote from investment bank William Blair.
