Payments giant Mastercard unveiled a “360-degree” approach that allows 150 million merchants across its network to receive payments in stablecoins.
The stablecoin settlement support comes amid increasing global regulatory clarity on digital assets, particularly stablecoins. Mastercard announced its partnership with payments processor Nuvei and stablecoin issuers Circle and Paxos to enable a seamless payment ecosystem.
“We believe in the potential of stablecoins to streamline payments and commerce across the value chain,” said Jorn Lambert, chief product officer at Mastercard. “Unlocking this is core to how we navigate the rapidly changing world, giving people and businesses the freedom they want by providing the choices they deserve.”
With the “global end-to-end stablecoin acceptance and payments capabilities,” Mastercard aims to grab stablecoin’s evolving regulatory clarity to ensure people and businesses can benefit most from it.
“Mastercard and OKX will explore new opportunities to help people meaningfully engage with digital assets,” the release noted. The firm also launched its Multi-Token Network (MTN) in 2023, that facilitates real-time settlements and redemptions of tokenized assets.
The payments firm is also launching a crypto card in partnership with OKX crypto exchange. Dubbed “OKX Card,” the product leverages OKX’s leadership in crypto trading, providing millions with easy access to their funds.
“US legislation on stablecoins would further legitimise the stablecoin industry,” Geoff Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at the London-based bank, and two other strategists, wrote in a report. “This has implications for both US Treasury buying (for reserve purposes) and USD hegemony.”
Standard Chartered Bank recently predicted that the size of the stablecoin market could go up by about 10-fold to $2 trillion within the next three years.