Mastercard announced it will acquire London-based stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK for up to $1.8 billion, marking the largest stablecoin deal in history and a major bet on on-chain payments.
Mastercard has agreed to acquire BVNK, a London-based stablecoin infrastructure startup, for up to $1.8 billion in the largest stablecoin-focused deal to date.
Mastercard announced on March 17 that it will buy BVNK in a deal that includes $300 million in performance-based contingent payments. BVNK, founded in 2021, was most recently valued at roughly $750 million and operates across more than 130 countries on all major blockchain networks.
The acquisition gives Mastercard direct infrastructure to bridge its traditional payment rails with blockchain-based stablecoin systems. The deal is expected to close later this year, pending regulatory approvals. According to people familiar with the negotiations, BVNK had previously been in acquisition talks with Coinbase before the Mastercard deal materialized.
The acquisition signals that traditional payment giants are no longer just experimenting with crypto. They are making multi-billion-dollar bets on stablecoin infrastructure as the bridge between legacy finance and on-chain payments.
BVNK's technology enables cross-border transfers, remittances, and business-to-business transactions using stablecoins. For Mastercard, this means the ability to offer merchants and financial institutions a seamless path between fiat and on-chain settlement. The deal comes amid a wave of institutional stablecoin activity following the pro-crypto regulatory shift that began after the 2024 US election. Stablecoin transaction volume surpassed $27 trillion in 2024, overtaking Visa and Mastercard combined in raw settlement value.
The deal positions Mastercard against competitors like Visa, which has been building its own stablecoin settlement capabilities through partnerships with Circle and Solana. PayPal launched its own stablecoin (PYUSD) in 2023 and has been expanding its on-chain payment features. With the CLARITY Act still stalled in the US Senate and lawmakers negotiating competing proposals, stablecoin regulation remains a moving target. How quickly Mastercard can integrate BVNK's infrastructure into its global network will determine whether this bet pays off.
Mastercard's $1.8 billion acquisition of BVNK marks a turning point for institutional stablecoin adoption. As traditional payment networks race to integrate on-chain settlement, the line between crypto infrastructure and legacy finance continues to blur.
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