Mastercard Unveils Global End-to-End Features for Stablecoins
Mastercard announced on Monday a series of global end-to-end capabilities for stablecoins, ranging from card issuance, merchant settlements, on-chain remittances to innovative payment applications. The initiative aims to ensure that individuals and businesses can send and receive stablecoin payments anytime and anywhere through a comprehensive integration solution.
Wallet Empowerment, Issuing, and Payment Acceptance
Mastercard stated that it has partnered with various companies in the crypto space, including MetaMask, Kraken, Gemini, Bybit, Crypto.com, Binance, Monavate, and Bleap, allowing consumers to use stablecoins from their crypto wallets at over 150 million merchant locations worldwide that accept Mastercard, earn rewards, and withdraw stablecoins to bank accounts using Mastercard Move.
Mastercard also announced its collaboration with the cryptocurrency exchange OKX to launch the OKX Card, enabling millions of users to easily utilize crypto funds. OKX’s Chief Marketing Officer, Haider Rafique, stated:
Merchant Settlements and On-Chain Remittances
As acquiring institutions and merchants increasingly explore and utilize digital assets for settlements, Mastercard partnered with Nuvei and Circle to enable merchants to choose to settle payments in stablecoins like USDC issued by Circle, regardless of the payment method chosen by consumers. Mastercard has also collaborated with Paxos to implement this feature on stablecoins issued by Paxos.
Regarding cross-border remittances, Mastercard indicated that its newly launched “Mastercard Crypto Credential” addresses user experience and security issues, allowing users of cryptocurrency exchanges to send and receive digital assets using simple and trusted usernames. Wirex, Bit2Me, Lirium, Notabene, Coins.ph, and Mercado Bitcoin have joined this ecosystem.
Mastercard further pointed out that stablecoins can simplify the settlement processes between global markets and currencies, with its Multi-Token Network (MTN) facilitating instant payments and redemptions, enabling partners like Ondo Finance to leverage on-chain tokenized assets. The company noted that JPMorgan and Standard Chartered have connected to the MTN, “linking deposit accounts with emerging digital asset use cases.”
