Payment giant Mastercard announced the launch of a new global partnership program focused on cryptocurrencies and blockchain. The initiative aims to connect digital asset companies, banks, and payment service providers to jointly explore ways to leverage blockchain infrastructure in everyday financial services.
More than 85 companies from the cryptocurrency and payments sector joined the program at launch. These include cryptocurrency exchanges, blockchain networks, and technology infrastructure providers. Notable names include Binance, Circle, Gemini, Paxos, Ripple, PayPal, Polygon, Solana, Crypto.com, MoonPay, Fireblocks, and Canton Network.
The project’s primary goal is to connect blockchain technology with existing payment infrastructure that banks, merchants, and consumers use worldwide today.
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Blockchain for Faster International Payments
According to Mastercard, digital assets are entering a new phase of development. Technologies that operated largely outside the traditional financial system just a few years ago are now being applied to real financial operations.
The new partnership program will therefore focus particularly on areas where blockchain can deliver practical benefits. These include:
- cross-border payments
- financial settlement between institutions
- corporate and commercial payments
Blockchain can significantly accelerate transfers in these cases, reduce costs, and simplify infrastructure that is often complex today and involves many intermediaries.
Mastercard stated that the initiative builds on its existing activities in digital assets – such as partnerships with cryptocurrency firms, support for blockchain startups, and payment cards linked to cryptocurrencies.
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Payment Giants Embrace Cryptocurrencies
Mastercard’s new program fits into a broader trend where major payment networks are increasingly interested in digital assets.
Visa has also expanded its blockchain and stablecoin experiments in recent years. In September, for example, it announced a pilot project that allows banks to prefund international payments using stablecoins through the Visa Direct platform. This makes some transfers virtually instantaneous.
A month later, Visa also expanded support for cryptocurrency services to include additional stablecoins and blockchain networks. These digital currencies are pegged to traditional currencies, most commonly the U.S. dollar, and primarily serve as a stable medium for transfers and transaction settlement.
Tokenization Now Comprises a Significant Share of Payments
Mastercard is gradually integrating blockchain technologies into its own infrastructure. According to the company, approximately 30% of all Mastercard transactions in 2024 were tokenized. Tokenization means that sensitive payment data is replaced with digital tokens, which increases payment security.
The company continues to collaborate with financial institutions on projects utilizing digital currencies.
Also Read: Coinbase: Cryptocurrency Exchange Review
SoFi Stablecoin for Payment Settlement
One recent step includes Mastercard’s partnership with fintech company SoFi Technologies. The two firms agreed to use the stablecoin SoFiUSD, which is pegged to the U.S. dollar.
This digital dollar can be used for settling transactions in the Mastercard payment network. In practice, this means that card issuers and payment processors can settle transactions with each other using stablecoins instead of traditional bank transfers.
SoFi Bank even plans to settle its own Mastercard credit and debit transactions through this stablecoin.
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