Mastercard and MoonPay bid to mainstream stablecoin payments
Mastercard is stepping up its commitment to stablecoins, inking a deal with MoonPay to enable people and businesses to use them for payments across global markets.
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Enterprises and fintechs will be able to tap Mastercard branded cards linked to users' stablecoin balances, enabling cardholders to spend their stablecoins, which will simultaneously be converted to fiat currency, at more than 150 million locations where Mastercard is accepted worldwide.
The partnership will use API-driven stablecoin infrastructure from Iron, acquired by MoonPay in March, to facilitate the payments for businesses and transform crypto wallets into new digital bank accounts for seamless global transactions.
This, say the partners, will unlock the ability for businesses, neobanks, and other payment participants to easily manage payouts and disbursements more efficiently, improving cross-border money transfers. It also allows businesses to offer stablecoin-based payouts to gig workers, contractors and creators.
'By providing solutions that unlock stablecoin utility and ubiquity, we are redefining how money moves globally and driving a shift in payments as we know it,' says Scott Abrahams, EVP, global partnerships, Mastercard. 'Together with MoonPay, we're building innovative and secure connectivity between crypto and mainstream finance ecosystems, grounded by trust and driven by scale.'
With increasing global regulatory clarity, Mastercard is betting that stablecoins are evolving from crypto trading tools to an option that can bring efficiency and programmability to payments, disbursements, and remittances.
The MoonPay agreement comes weeks after the payments giant unveiled an integrated 360-degree approach to allow consumers and businesses to use stablecoins as easily as the money in their bank accounts.
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