mastercard

According to The Block, payment company Mastercard has launched the Stablecoin Security tool to screen for fraud and sanction risks in stablecoin payments.This tool is aimed at stablecoin payment scenarios, helping relevant institutions identify fraudulent activities and sanction compliance risks during transaction processing. Mastercard did not disclose more product parameters and launch scope in the summary of the report.

Despite the stablecoin circulating supply experiencing almost no growth in the first 9 months before 2026, its payment usage is accelerating. During the same period, stablecoin payments reached $482 billion, a year-on-year increase of 45%; the number of transactions rose to over 1 billion, a year-on-year increase of 71%. On-chain stablecoin card spending reached $3.9 billion, ten times that of the same period last year, with transactions under $50 accounting for 84% of the increase in card transactions.Mastercard, Stripe, and Visa launched services this week to integrate stablecoins into existing payment systems. In the first three quarters, out of $97.9 trillion in original transfers, only 2.5%, or $2.4 trillion, belonged to end-user activities, with $482 billion being the payment amount under this metric; stablecoin card spending in the second quarter accounted for only 0.03% of Visa's $4 trillion payment volume during the same period.

BVNK announced the launch of a global currency platform that connects stablecoins with Mastercard's payment network, enabling stablecoins to facilitate fund transfers through Mastercard's card organization channels.The first planned integration partners for the platform include payment service providers Nuvei and Marqeta. BVNK stated that the platform's local withdrawal coverage is expected to further expand by 2027.

According to Forbes, venture capitalist Alex Lazarow wrote that in the past two years, Stripe, Mastercard, and Circle have acquired American stablecoin infrastructure company Bridge, British BVNK, and Singapore cross-border payment platform Tazapay, respectively, with a total transaction value exceeding $3 billion. These three companies were established between 2020 and 2022, raising a total of approximately $200 million, indicating that stablecoin payment infrastructure is becoming a field where traditional payment giants and cryptocurrency companies are competing to establish a presence.Among them, Stripe announced in 2024 that it would acquire Bridge for slightly over $1 billion; the total value of Mastercard's acquisition of BVNK could reach up to $1.8 billion, including $1.5 billion in base consideration and $300 million in contingent consideration; Circle agreed to acquire Tazapay for $400 million in stock, with the transaction expected to be completed in 2027. The growth in stablecoin adoption, the gradual clarification of regulatory frameworks, and the rising demand for real-time cross-border payments are the main factors driving mergers and acquisitions.Data shows that in 2025, the adjusted transaction volume of stablecoins is expected to grow by 91% year-on-year, reaching $10.9 trillion, close to Visa's $14.2 trillion; the scale of real-world payments is expected to more than double, reaching approximately $390 billion. These transactions reflect that acquirers value not only stablecoin technology but also verified business scale, payment networks, and compliance qualifications.As stablecoin payment infrastructure matures, applications such as dollar accounts, stablecoin payment cards, and cross-border remittances are also emerging, and in the future, more local infrastructure companies similar to Bridge and BVNK may be acquired in various regions around the world.

Privacy infrastructure Hinkal announced on October 9, 2026, its participation in the Mastercard Crypto Partner Program. This program connects crypto and blockchain teams, Mastercard teams, and its global payment network, with members including stablecoin issuers, infrastructure providers, fiat exchange service providers, crypto card supporters, and blockchain and blockchain service providers. Mastercard positions it as a way to transform technological capabilities into compliant use cases for global commerce; some members can also access financial institutions within the card issuing and acquiring networks and receive regulatory and compliance support aligned with global standards.Related use cases include cross-border payments and remittances, B2B transactions, fund and settlement flows, stablecoin payments, and card projects that allow users to spend digital assets at regular merchants. Hinkal can provide embeddable privacy capabilities for wallets, payment platforms, and chains, allowing stablecoins to settle in private balances and transfer using zero-knowledge proofs, ensuring that the amount, sender, or receiver is not disclosed during on-chain transfer verification. This capability is already live on Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, TRON, and other major EVM chains, accessible via SDK and API.Existing integrations include Private Send in Polygon Wallet, Hinkal Private Send in the Tether wallet development kit, Turnkey wallets that can enhance privacy features through Hinkal SDK, and Avvio running Hinkal private payments on its own interface.

ChainCatcher live report, at the OKX NOW conference roundtable "Next Generation Financial System: Who Will Build It?", Mastercard's Executive Vice President of Blockchain and Digital Assets Raj Dhamodharan looked ahead to the payment landscape ten years from now: the underlying rails will change, new technologies such as stablecoins will be applied more behind the scenes, but the simplicity and trust of user experience will not change. He pointed out that stablecoins' "almost zero-cost transfers" are just the surface; cross-border payments still require a multi-layered combination of local liquidity and compliance systems, "payment rails are just one of the raw materials."Also present, OKX Global Managing Partner and CMO Haider Rafique revealed two sets of industry data: the global stablecoin market size is approximately $250 billion, and there are over 700 million crypto users; he also confirmed that the OKX Card exclusively uses the Mastercard network in markets such as Europe, and both parties are exploring cooperation in payment and AI-driven e-commerce.

According to The Defiant, BVNK, a stablecoin infrastructure company under Mastercard, announced the addition of the Stellar network as a stablecoin payment channel. This integration has officially launched in over 130 markets, and more Stellar native assets will be supported in the future.BVNK is a stablecoin infrastructure company that was acquired by Mastercard for up to $1.8 billion.

According to The Block, SoFi has begun using SoFiUSD to settle debit and credit card transactions on the Mastercard network and plans to migrate the entire card program to blockchain settlement, with an expected annual processing volume exceeding $25 billion.SoFi claims to be the first bank to launch stablecoin settlement on the Mastercard network.

According to CNBC, Ant International has launched a collaboration with Visa and Mastercard to establish a "Know Your Agent" (KYA) interoperability framework, which will set universal standards for AI agent identity recognition, verification, and transaction monitoring, allowing agents verified on one network to be used across ecosystems.McKinsey estimates that by 2030, AI agents could participate in $30 trillion to $50 trillion in global consumer transactions.

Mastercard recently released the report "A Short History of the Future of Shopping and Payments," predicting that by 2030, approximately 300 million shoppers worldwide will regularly use AI agents, primarily concentrated in the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, China, and South Korea. The report is based on a survey conducted from June to July 2026 involving 13 markets and 13,000 pairs of parents and teenagers (a total of 26,000 respondents).The survey shows that 65% of British teenagers believe AI will change the shopping habits of their generation, and the likelihood of teenagers globally using AI for shopping is about twice that of their parents. 22% of British teenagers expect shopping to be dominated by AI within five years, compared to only 11% in France. 79% of teenagers and 70% of parents have used AI to research products in the past year, while 51% of teenagers and 46% of parents have used AI to complete a purchase at least once.The report cites Gartner's prediction that by 2028, the majority of B2B procurement will be mediated by AI agents, driving over $15 trillion in spending; by 2030, 20% of monetary transactions will be programmable. The report also suggests that "Know Your Agent" (KYA) could become a compliance advantage, with payment intent, consent, and machine-readable warranties forming the infrastructure of agent-based commerce.

According to official news, BNB Chain announced its participation in the Mastercard Crypto Partner Program, collaborating with the Mastercard ecosystem to promote the application of digital assets in global payments and everyday business scenarios.

According to Cointelegraph, ARK Invest founder Cathie Wood stated that analysts focused on Visa and Mastercard fail to understand the disruption brought by Circle, even though Circle has risen 84% since its IPO.

According to CoinDesk, Visa is seeking new stablecoin settlement and over-the-counter trading partners to replace BVNK, which was previously acquired by Mastercard. The related product request document shows that Visa hopes the partners will have cryptocurrency exchange licenses in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Singapore, and be able to support various stablecoin exchange and settlement services, including handling settlements for the Open USD stablecoin project driven by Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard.Previously, Visa launched the Visa Stablecoin platform, providing banks, fintech companies, and payment service providers with tools for accessing, storing, redeeming, and transferring stablecoins, initially supporting OUSD.

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The insider information about the acquisition of stablecoin infrastructure company BVNK by Mastercard for $1.8 billion has recently been revealed. BVNK's early investment firm Concentric disclosed that during the acquisition bidding process, the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase once held an advantage and reportedly made a top bid of $2.5 billion, but ultimately withdrew from the competition due to insufficient strategic and cultural fit between the two parties.Kjartan Rist, founding partner of Concentric, stated that the founding team of BVNK did not only focus on the bid amount when choosing an acquirer, but placed more importance on long-term partnerships and cultural alignment. "Although Coinbase may have offered a higher price, the chemistry between the two parties was not ideal." In contrast, Mastercard, as a traditional financial services company, found it easier to form synergies with BVNK in the areas of payment infrastructure and stablecoin applications.It is reported that Mastercard was involved in the acquisition discussions for BVNK early on, and after Coinbase failed to advance the deal, Mastercard re-emerged as the primary buyer, ultimately completing the acquisition for $1.8 billion.Visa also participated in the competition. Having previously invested in BVNK and holding a board observer seat, Visa once had an advantage. However, Visa ultimately chose not to pursue a direct acquisition, opting instead for an open strategy of collaborating with multiple stablecoin companies.BVNK was founded in 2018 and primarily provides stablecoin payment, cross-border settlement, and fund management infrastructure for enterprises. Its early investor Concentric invested in the company at a valuation of $4 million in 2019, and this transaction has resulted in significant returns.

Global Stablecoin Arrangement and Liquidity Network Borderless.xyz announced a partnership with Mastercard to launch a pilot program exploring how to enhance trust and compliance in cross-border stablecoin payments through Mastercard Crypto Credential.The pilot will utilize the standardized framework of Mastercard Crypto Credential to provide verifiable trust signals for stablecoin payment processes, helping participants optimize approval, compliance, and risk management. Participants in the pilot include Infinia, Walapay, and Koywe from the Borderless.xyz network.

According to Cointelegraph, payment giant Mastercard has announced a pilot project with the stablecoin infrastructure network Borderless to explore the use of the Mastercard Crypto Credential standard framework to provide more reliable identity verification and compliance support for cross-border stablecoin payments.Both parties stated that the pilot will test how to provide "trust signals" that can be used for approval, compliance review, and risk management for transaction participants through a standardized certification mechanism, reducing compliance friction in cross-border stablecoin payments.The Mastercard Crypto Credential framework provides identity confirmation and credibility assurance for blockchain transactions through unified standards and verification mechanisms. Kevin Lehtiniitty, co-founder and CEO of Borderless, stated that compliance has always been a major barrier to the scalable development of stablecoin payments, and Mastercard is attempting to apply the compliance trust model from traditional finance to the digital asset payment space. He pointed out that the Mastercard Crypto Credential will serve as a governance and verification layer in this pilot, but Mastercard will not directly handle or settle funds. This collaboration is the latest move in Mastercard's ongoing strategy in the stablecoin space.Previously, Mastercard had just completed the acquisition of stablecoin infrastructure company BVNK for approximately $1.8 billion, further strengthening its infrastructure layout in the digital asset payment field. In June of this year, Mastercard also announced plans to expand its settlement capabilities to support round-the-clock card payment settlements using stablecoins, including USDC issued by Circle, PYUSD, USDG, USDP issued by Paxos, and RLUSD issued by Ripple.The market believes that as stablecoins gradually enter cross-border payment scenarios, identity authentication, compliance verification, and risk control infrastructure will become important factors driving institutional adoption.

According to official news, Mastercard has announced the completion of its acquisition of the stablecoin infrastructure company BVNK to enhance its global stablecoin service capabilities. Mastercard's Chief Product Officer stated that in a multi-currency world where various values coexist, including fiat currencies, stablecoins, and tokenized deposits, the next generation of payment models will be determined by the efficiency of connections across different rails. BVNK's on-chain infrastructure and stablecoin-native technology will help financial institutions, fintechs, and enterprises expand stablecoin application scenarios such as cross-border B2B payments, remittances, settlements, and cash flows.Previously, in March, it was reported that Mastercard planned to acquire BVNK for up to $1.8 billion.