Mastercard Taps Gemini for Ripple-Backed Stablecoin Settlement
Mastercard is exploring how to settle card flows in Ripple's USD-pegged stablecoin, RLUSD, across its network. The project aims to integrate stablecoins into existing rails rather than running a parallel system.
The collaboration with Gemini will enable the settlement of card flows in RLUSD, and Mastercard expects the feature to go live in the first half of the year. Christian Rau, Mastercard's senior vice president for digital assets and blockchain, stated that stablecoins have entered the mainstream of financial services and can speed cross-border flows.
Rau emphasized the benefits of using stablecoins as a settlement currency within Mastercard's network, citing its 150 million acceptance locations and 3.8 billion cards as the core advantage behind the integration approach. He added that stablecoins offer advantages that fiat currencies cannot match today.