Mastercard agreed to buy BVNK, a stablecoin infrastructure company, for as much as $1.8 billion as it looks to strengthen its support for digital assets and onchain money transfers.

The deal expands Mastercard’s end-to-end support of digital assets and value movement across currencies, rails and regions, the payments company said Tuesday.

U.K.-based BVNK is a stablecoin company enabling businesses to move money in seconds across more than 130 countries. Its infrastructure, used by firms including Worldpay, Deel and Flywire, processes billions of dollars annually and is designed to bridge traditional fiat systems with blockchain-based payments.

By integrating BVNK’s technology, Mastercard said it aims to connect on-chain payments with its global network, enabling use cases such as cross-border transfers, remittances and business-to-business payments.

“We expect that most financial institutions and fintechs will in time provide digital currency services,” said Jorn Lambert, Mastercard’s chief product officer, in a statement. The deal will help bring “the benefits of tokenized money to the real world.”

The agreement comes several months after Coinbase ended $2 billion acquisition talks with the stablecoin startup. At the time, a Coinbase spokesperson declined to provide a reason for the talks' collapse.

For Mastercard, the acquisition highlights its growing push into digital assets as stablecoin adoption accelerates. Just last week, it announced the launch of its Crypto Partner Program, which brings together more than 85 companies from across the digital asset and payments industries, an effort to link blockchain technology more directly with the infrastructure that underpins global commerce.

Stablecoin payment volumes reached at least $350 billion in 2025, according to the company, with increasing regulatory clarity prompting banks and fintechs to explore offerings tied to tokenized deposits and blockchain-based money movement.

The company also said the combined capabilities will focus on interoperability between fiat and digital currencies while maintaining compliance and security standards expected by financial institutions.

The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to close before the end of the year.

UPDATE (March 17, 12:45 UTC): Adds details on transaction, background starting in third paragraph, Coinbase's approach in sixth.