Mastercard has entered a definitive agreement to acquire BVNK, a stablecoin infrastructure firm, for up to $1.8 billion, including $300 million in contingent payments.
In a statement, the payments company says digital assets powered by blockchain technology have the potential to make money movement faster and smarter.
It notes that while nascent, today digital currency payment use cases are rapidly scaling, reaching at least $350 billion in 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,” says Jorn Lambert, chief product officer at Mastercard.
“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. This acquisition reinforces what we have always done, using innovation and technology to power economies and empower people. Adding on-chain rails to our network will support speed and programmability for virtually every type of transaction.”
The acquisition adds to the company’s recent commitments, such as the Mastercard Crypto Partner Programme, to foster more collaboration and innovation to maximise the opportunity in the next phase of on-chain payments for all involved.
Mastercard notes that since its founding in 2021, BVNK, whose headquarters are in London, has built deep expertise and infrastructure to bridge fiat and stablecoins.
Today, it adds, the BVNK platform enables sending and receiving payments for its customers on all major blockchain networks across over 130 countries.
“For all of the advancements made in simplifying the digital currency opportunity, we have only scratched the surface of what’s possible,” says Jesse Hemson-Struthers, co-founder and CEO of BVNK.
“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.”
The transaction, which is anticipated to close before the end of the year, is subject to regulatory review and other customary closing conditions.
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