Chainlink and Mastercard Unlock DeFi Access for 3.5B Cardholders Through Swapper Finance

• Chainlink and Mastercard, via Swapper Finance, give 3.5 billion cardholders a direct path into DeFi deposits.
• Chainlink’s role in tokenization and 12 new integrations supports deeper institutional use while LINK trades in the 25–30 dollar range.

Chainlink and Mastercard moved a large part of traditional payments closer to DeFi by supporting Swapper Finance’s new direct-deposit feature. The integration allows more than 3.5 billion Mastercard cardholders to move funds into onchain applications through Swapper without navigating complex crypto steps.

Swapper said the rollout connects its platform to Mastercard’s network through Chainlink’s secure interoperability tools, which handle the movement of verified payment data onto blockchains.

The announcement follows Swapper’s update explaining how Mastercard card payments can now settle directly into a user’s onchain balance. The flow removes the need for exchanges, because users can fund Web3 wallets using familiar card rails.

Chainlink’s infrastructure verifies offchain payment events and delivers them to smart contracts in real time, so deposits arrive onchain once Mastercard confirms the transaction.

Swapper said this system lowers technical barriers and creates a compliant bridge between traditional finance and decentralized protocols. Mastercard’s network carries the payment, while Chainlink ensures the settlement signal reaches the blockchain securely.

As a result, DeFi platforms can receive card-funded deposits with fewer steps and fewer points of failure. The companies argue that this design can support new onchain products for a much larger global audience as direct-to-DeFi funding becomes more accessible.

Chainlink Expands With Major Institutions and New Integrations

Chainlink has joined SWIFT, J.P. Morgan, Euroclear and about 20 other major institutions — together representing roughly US$30 trillion in assets — to push for tokenization of traditional financial assets, as outlined in our recent blog post.  The move aims to use Chainlink’s blockchain-oracle tech so banks and institutions can issue and settle tokenized assets across existing financial networks, bridging legacy finance and the on-chain economy.

Chainlink recently announced 12 new integrations across multiple blockchains — including Optimism and Astar Network — boosting its network’s reach and fueling optimism across the crypto community, as we covered in our latest report.

As a result, analysts argue that these expansions — along with rising usage and renewed technical momentum — could push LINK toward $25–$30 in the near term.