Mastercard in talks to acquire zerohash for nearly $2B: Report
Analysis
Price Impact
HighMastercard's potential $2b acquisition of zerohash, an infrastructure provider for stablecoins and tokenization, signals a significant institutional bet on digital assets, particularly stablecoins. this will expand the utility and accessibility of stablecoins in traditional finance.
Trustworthiness
HighReported by fortune, citing multiple sources familiar with the negotiations, and details other competing bids/acquisitions (e.g., coinbase outbidding mastercard for bvnk), lending strong credibility to the report.
Price Direction
BullishThis development, alongside similar moves by visa, paypal, and stripe, indicates a strong trend of global payments companies embracing stablecoins and tokenization. increased institutional involvement and robust infrastructure development are fundamentally bullish for the broader crypto market, as they pave the way for wider mainstream adoption and utility.
Time Effect
LongBuilding out and integrating new financial infrastructure, especially at the scale of a major player like mastercard, takes time to fully materialize its impact on market prices and overall adoption. the benefits will be seen over months to years.
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Nate Kostar 2 minutes ago Mastercard in talks to acquire zerohash for nearly $2B: Report The potential acquisition would mark one of Mastercard’s largest crypto bets yet, expanding its stablecoin and tokenization infrastructure amid growing competition. Listen 0:00 9 News COINTELEGRAPH IN YOUR SOCIAL FEED Mastercard is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire crypto and stablecoin infrastructure startup zerohash in a deal valued from $1.5 billion to $2 billion, according to multiple sources familiar with the negotiations. The news, reported by Fortune on Wednesday, follows earlier efforts by Mastercard to expand its footprint in stablecoin infrastructure. The global payments giant previously explored acquiring BVNK, a London-based stablecoin startup, in a deal valued near $2 billion, according to sources familiar with the talks. While no deal has been announced, sources said Mastercard was outbid by centralized crypto exchange Coinbase, which is now in exclusivity talks with BVNK. Zerohash is an API-first infrastructure provider that enables banks, fintechs and brokerages to embed crypto, stablecoins and tokenization into their existing platforms. According to a press release in April, the company powered more than $2 billion in tokenized fund flows over the preceding four months. It also provides the payment infrastructure behind major tokenized funds such as BlackRock’s BUIDL, Franklin Templeton’s BENJI Token and Hamilton Lane’s HLPIF, according to the company. Related: Circle’s Arc attracts South Korea’s first won-backed stablecoin experiment Global payments companies rush to stablecoins Following the passage of stablecoin legislation in the United States and Europe, global payments companies have accelerated their entry into the digital asset space. In September, PayPal expanded its PayPal USD stablecoin across several new blockchains, including Avalanche, Aptos, Tron, Ink, Abstract, Stable and Sei. The same month, Stripe announced a new tool called Open Issuance that enables any business to mint and manage their own stablecoins. The service is backed by stablecoin infrastructure company Bridge , which Stripe acquired in October 2024. Stripe announced plans to launch Tempo, an in-house blockchain built for global payments and stablecoin transactions. On Wednesday, Visa said it would start supporting stablecoins across four new blockchains, though it did not say which networks or tokens would be added. Magazine: Most wealthy Hong Kong investors plan to buy crypto, Japan’s Bitcoin plan: Asia Express # Visa # PayPal # Stripe # Business # Mastercard # Stablecoin # PayPal USD Add reaction