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Mastercard is expanding its support for stablecoin payments through a series of new partnerships that bridge cryptocurrency and mainstream commerce, the company announced Monday.
The payments giant is collaborating with crypto exchange OKX to launch the “OKX Card,” which will link crypto trading and Web3 spending directly to Mastercard’s global merchant network. At the same time, Mastercard is working with Circle, Nuvei, and Paxos to allow merchants to settle transactions directly in stablecoins such as USDC and USDP.
“When it comes to blockchain and digital assets, the benefits for mainstream use cases are clear,” said Jorn Lambert, Mastercard’s chief product officer. “To realize that potential, we must make it easy for merchants to accept stablecoin payments and for consumers to spend them.”
The initiative spans wallet support, card issuance, merchant settlement, and on-chain remittance services. It builds on Mastercard’s previous crypto partnerships with exchanges like Kraken, Binance, and Crypto.com, allowing users to spend stablecoins via traditional payment cards.
Mastercard’s Web3 card initiative also includes collaborations with MetaMask, Ledger, and Baanx, all focused on merging crypto with traditional payment options.
Mastercard has been steadily increasing its digital asset presence. In 2023, it introduced Mastercard Crypto Credential, a service that simplifies cross-border crypto transfers by replacing complex wallet addresses with verified usernames. It also launched the Multi-Token Network (MTN) to enable real-time settlement of tokenized assets. In February, Ondo Finance became the first company to bring tokenized real-world assets onto the MTN platform.
Elsewhere, Mastercard is expanding its support for non-custodial cryptocurrency wallets through a new collaboration with European payments provider Mercuryo.
Stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies pegged to stable assets like the U.S., are increasingly being used beyond trading platforms, moving into mainstream payment applications. Mastercard’s expanded stablecoin strategy allows the company to tap into this growing trend while offering more flexibility to merchants and consumers.
Mastercard is also set to introduce a peer-to-peer platform for cryptocurrency users across Europe and Latin America, named the Mastercard Crypto Credential network.
The P2P network allows users to use Mastercard Crypto Credential aliases for transactions. These aliases function as vanity addresses, similar to the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) on the Ethereum network. This setup simplifies the process by replacing the traditional long string of wallet addresses with more user-friendly labels.
Mastercard’s crypto feature is expected to streamline cross-border payments, particularly in the remittances sector, which saw an estimated $831 billion in global remittances in 2022, up from $717 billion in 2020.
