Mastercard Buys Stablecoin Infrastructure Firm BVNK for $1.8 Billion

Mastercard has finalized its $1.8 billion acquisition of BVNK, a London-based stablecoin infrastructure company. The deal gives Mastercard access to BVNK's platform, which processes roughly $30 billion in annualized stablecoin payment volume across 130 markets.

The platform, called 'Layer 1,' functions as an alternative core banking system built on blockchain infrastructure. It connects simultaneously to SWIFT, SEPA, ACH, and Fedwire on the fiat side, and to all major blockchain networks on the stablecoin side.

BVNK's direct access to SEPA CENTROlink through the Bank of Lithuania removes bank intermediaries from euro settlement entirely, allowing payments to settle in under 10 seconds with 99 percent completing under five seconds.

The acquisition is seen as a strategic move by Mastercard to position itself in the stablecoin market. With BVNK's platform, Mastercard can offer compliant stablecoin services to supervised banks and financial institutions immediately, not at the end of a multi-year licensing process.