- Mastercard will allow its partners to settle card transactions using regulated stablecoins on multiple blockchains.
- The expansion, announced on Wednesday, aims to provide more flexibility in settlement liquidity and timing.
- The move follows similar integrations by VISA and major remittance firms like MoneyGram and Western Union, signaling stablecoins’ growing role in mainstream finance.
On Wednesday, Mastercard unveiled a significant expansion of its settlement capabilities to include regulated stablecoins. This strategic move allows issuers and acquirers to settle card transactions using tokenized dollars on-chain, according to the company’s announcement. The new options are designed to offer partners greater flexibility in managing settlement liquidity and timing, including during weekends and holidays.
The stablecoin settlement feature will support several major tokens, including Circle‘s USDC and Ripple‘s RLUSD. These digital assets will be enabled across numerous blockchain networks such as Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon. Consequently, financial institutions like CBW Bank and Cross River are expected to be among the first to adopt this optionality in the United States and Latin America.
This development follows Mastercard securing a New York BitLicense in May. The license permits its US transaction services unit to conduct regulated digital asset business activity. Therefore, this expansion represents a deeper integration of stablecoins into core financial infrastructure, a trend gaining momentum across the payments industry.
Visa recently reported its stablecoin settlement pilot reached a $7 billion annualized run rate. Meanwhile, remittance giants are also diving deeper into the sector. For instance, MoneyGram launched its own USD stablecoin on the Stellar network this week.
Similarly, Western Union has launched its US dollar-denominated stablecoin on Solana. The stablecoin market, valued at approximately $320 billion, is increasingly viewed as a critical component for modernizing global settlement systems. These coordinated moves signal a pivotal shift toward tokenized assets in mainstream payment flows.
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