Mastercard expands stablecoin settlement network

Mastercard is expanding its settlement capabilities to allow issuers and acquirers to settle selected card transactions using regulated stablecoins, deepening the integration of digital assets into traditional payment networks.

The payments company said the new system will support intraday, weekend and holiday settlements, giving partners greater flexibility to manage liquidity through both fiat currencies and onchain stablecoin transactions.

“The new options are designed to give our partners more flexibility in managing settlement liquidity and timing,”

Mastercard said.

The stablecoin settlement framework will initially support Circle’s USDC, Paxos-issued PYUSD, USDG and USDP, Ripple’s RLUSD and SoFiUSD across blockchain networks including Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Arbitrum, Base, Canton, Tempo and XRPL.

Mastercard said ARQ, formerly known as DolarApp, CBW Bank, Cross River, Lead Bank and Nuvei are expected to be among the first institutions to support stablecoin settlement options in the United States and Latin America.

The expansion follows Mastercard securing a New York BitLicense in May, allowing its US transaction services division to conduct regulated digital asset business activities within the state.

The move comes as stablecoins gain traction across the payments industry, with Visa reporting a $7 billion annualised stablecoin settlement run rate earlier this year and the global stablecoin market reaching an estimated value of about $320 billion.

At the time of reporting, Ethereum price was $1,787.05.