Mastercard is buying BVNK, the London-based stablecoin infrastructure startup. The payments giant announced a definitive agreement on March 17, paying up to $1.8 billion. Of that, $1.5 billion covers the fixed purchase price. An additional $300 million depends on contingency conditions.
This transaction is the largest acquisition in the stablecoin infrastructure space, surpassing Stripe's purchase of Bridge for over $1.1 billion. Its goal is to expand Mastercard's capabilities in digital assets, particularly real-time payments across currencies, networks, and regions. BVNK reached an annualized transaction volume of $30 billion in 2025. For Mastercard, with a market capitalization of $453 billion, the maximum price represents less than 0.4 percent of its market value.
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What Mastercard gains from the BVNK acquisition
Founded in London in 2021, BVNK operates a stablecoin-powered financial stack for enterprises. Specifically, the startup offers on- and off-ramps between fiat currencies and stablecoins, settlement infrastructure, and a B2B payments platform. It works agnostically toward individual stablecoins while integrating existing systems such as SWIFT and SEPA. Real-time settlement also functions outside regular banking hours.
Clients include payment service providers such as Worldpay, Deel, Flywire, and Rapyd. Banking partners for fiat connectivity include Barclays, BBVA, Deutsche Bank, and Santander. In total, BVNK added approximately 226 new clients in 2025. Volume grew by a factor of 2.3 year over year.
The U.S. market performed particularly well. Since launching in January 2025, annualized volume there grew from $100 million to $10 billion. Meanwhile, annualized revenue stood at approximately $40 million at the time of the Series B in December 2024. At the fixed price of $1.5 billion, that implies a revenue multiple of roughly 37x.
Coinbase negotiated first
Mastercard was not the first suitor. Back in October 2025, Coinbase and BVNK entered exclusive negotiations over an acquisition at around $2 billion. Their deal reached the due diligence stage. During this phase, BVNK could not accept offers from other bidders, including Mastercard.
Still, the talks collapsed in November 2025. A Coinbase spokesperson stated only that both sides had agreed not to proceed. Neither Coinbase nor BVNK disclosed specific reasons. This allowed Mastercard to step in roughly four months later.
The investor list is notable. Visa Ventures invested in BVNK in early 2025 but did not pursue a full acquisition. Citi Ventures followed with an investment in October 2025. Haun Ventures led the Series B in December 2024 at a valuation of $750 million. Coinbase Ventures and Tiger Global also participated. In less than 18 months, the valuation nearly doubled to the fixed price of $1.5 billion.
"We expect most financial institutions and fintechs to offer digital currency services over time, whether with stablecoins or tokenized deposits. We want to support them and their customers with a best-in-class, highly compliant, and interoperable offering." - Jorn Lambert, Chief Product Officer, Mastercard
Mastercard's crypto offensive
The acquisition fits into a broader strategy. In early March 2026, Mastercard unveiled a Crypto Partner Program with over 85 digital asset firms. Binance, Crypto.com, Bybit, Gemini, Ripple, Circle, and PayPal are all part of it. Through the Multi-Token Network (MTN), the company enables programmable payment flows. These encompass tokenized bank deposits, stablecoins such as USDC, EURC, and PYUSD, as well as real-world assets.
Mastercard is systematically building its own crypto infrastructure. With Crypto Credential, it maintains a compliance and identity layer for blockchain transactions. Its recent partnership with SoFi also brought the first stablecoin from a U.S.-chartered-and-insured bank as a settlement option into the network. Users can already spend stablecoin balances at over 150 million acceptance points worldwide.
BVNK delivers the missing infrastructure layer. While Mastercard previously controlled consumer access and network connectivity, it lacked the B2B bridge between fiat and stablecoins. That is exactly BVNK's core business: settlement infrastructure for financial institutions, not consumer products.
"Despite all progress in simplifying the possibilities of digital currencies, we have only scratched the surface. This deal brings together complementary capabilities to shape and execute the future of money. Together, we can provide unprecedented infrastructure for digital currency-based financial services." - Jesse Hemson-Struthers, Co-Founder and CEO, BVNK
Stablecoin market puts pressure on payments giants
The global stablecoin market reached a capitalization of approximately $320 billion in March 2026. It grew by 49 percent in 2025 alone. Transaction volume stood at $33 trillion, a 72 percent increase over 2024. As a result, stablecoin volume exceeded both Visa's and Mastercard's combined network volume. Tether USDT dominates with a 58 percent market share and over $176 billion in capitalization. Circle USDC follows at 25 percent and over $74 billion.
At the same time, competitors are investing heavily. Visa operates over 130 stablecoin-linked card issuance programs in more than 40 countries. Annualized settlement volume stood at $3.5 billion. By some estimates, over 90 percent of on-chain crypto card volume runs through Visa. After acquiring Bridge, Stripe integrated stablecoin functionality directly into its APIs. PayPal expanded its PYUSD stablecoin, now with over $1 billion in circulation, onto Tron and Avalanche.
Regulatory clarity is accelerating the trend further. President Trump signed the GENIUS Act in July 2025. This law establishes a federal framework for payment stablecoins with 1:1 reserve requirements. Regulators target full implementation by early 2027. Stablecoin card issuance rose to $4.5 billion in 2025, an increase of 673 percent. B2B payments via stablecoins grew to an annualized $226 billion. Institutional players like Mastercard now gain access to one of the fastest-growing segments in payments through the BVNK acquisition. Regulatory approvals remain pending before the transaction can close. Mastercard expects completion before the end of 2026.
