Mastercard To Acquire BVNK In $1.8B Bet On Hybrid Finance
Hey FinTech Fanatic!
Big move from Mastercard today. 👇
The company has announced it will acquire BVNK, a stablecoin infrastructure provider, in a deal worth up to $1.8B, as it doubles down on connecting on-chain payments with traditional fiat rails.
And if you ask me, this is not about crypto. This move is a way to own the rails between fiat and stablecoins. Mastercard is clearly going all in on what I’d call hybrid finance.
Cards, bank rails, and now on-chain rails. Fiat, stablecoins, and tokenised deposits. All connected through one network. The rationale is straightforward.
“Adding on-chain rails to our network will support speed and programmability for virtually every type of transaction,” said Jorn Lambert, Chief Product Officer at Mastercard.
“This deal brings together complementary capabilities to define and deliver the future of money,” said CEO at BVNK Jesse Hemson-Struthers.
In other words, Mastercard is not choosing between traditional finance and crypto. It’s building the infrastructure to connect both.
How about checking out all of today's industry news? Scroll down and take a look. I'll be back tomorrow with all the latest news.
Cheers,
ARTICLE OF THE DAY
🤯 Stripe is now valued at 5x Adyen?
Here's a comparison Stripe 🆚 Adyen from the latest Financial Reports:
FINTECH NEWS
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PAYMENTS NEWS
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🇺🇸 PayPal brings PayPal USD to users across 70 markets. This dollar-backed stablecoin enables users to send funds globally, with faster settlement and lower cost than traditional payment methods. Stablecoins like PYUSD help power an inclusive, fast, lower-cost, global commerce system.
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🇺🇸 Klarna smashes 1 million merchants milestone. Klarna has grown the number of merchants offering its payment methods by 47% in the past year, adding 285,000 merchants in 2025, and more than 115,000 in the final quarter alone.
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🇺🇸 Alviere and Oracle enhance collaboration to simplify payments for regulated global enterprises. Together, the companies will serve a broad range of industries, offering customers frictionless payment and financial solutions that align with the security, compliance, and scalability needs of the world’s largest organisations.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
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🇬🇧 Starling launches free Making Tax Digital tool to help sole traders manage new rules. By fully embedding a free, HMRC-recognised tool directly within the bank account, Starling transforms tax management from an expensive, friction-filled third-party integration into a seamless, value-added service.
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BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
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🇦🇪 Bybit EU cooperates with PayPal to simplify crypto funding. The cooperation brings together one of the most recognised global payment brands and one of the EU's best-known crypto platforms, offering users a secure and familiar way to move between fiat and digital assets.
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PARTNERSHIPS
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🇱🇺 Galaxy and Banking Circle collaborate to enhance multi-currency banking infrastructure for digital asset activity. Through Banking Circle’s platform and BC-NOW technology, Galaxy enhances its ability to facilitate efficient FX execution and settlement.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
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🌍 TransFi Inc. raises $19 million to build an emerging markets–focused global payments platform on stablecoin rails. The funding will support TransFi’s mission to modernise cross-border payments by reducing dependency on legacy banking rails and enabling real-time value transfer using stablecoin-enabled infrastructure.
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🇬🇧 UK FinTech Pockit borrows cash from a Spanish railway architect. The Cardiff-based business, which offers prepaid accounts to customers without a credit score, has signed a debenture agreement with Anchorgate Management, a British Virgin Islands company controlled by architect Santiago Calatrava.
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🇬🇧 Steward, an AI-driven compliance platform managing $100B, raises $5M. The solution automates complex investor onboarding and monitoring by streamlining document collection, risk assessment, and compliance workflows into a single system.
🇮🇳 Svasti Microfinance raises $5.7 million to Scale AI-Driven Lending, targets ₹1,400 Crore AUM by 2027. The fresh capital will be used to expand Svasti’s loan portfolio, strengthen its digital infrastructure, and introduce diversified financial products beyond traditional joint liability group lending.
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M&A
🇺🇸 Mastercard to acquire BVNK to connect on-chain payments and fiat rails. The deal further expands Mastercard’s end-to-end support of digital assets and value movement across currencies, rails, and regions. Digital assets powered by blockchain technology have the potential to make money movement faster and smarter.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
🇺🇸 Robinhood hires Bitstamp exec Nejc Bizjak to head crypto strategy and operations. Nejc Bizjak joins Robinhood in its New York office after spending the past eight years with crypto exchange operator Bitstamp, serving as Head of Strategy and Business Operations at Bitstamp for the past four years.
🇬🇧 Starling on hunt for new chair as Deloitte veteran bows out. UK FinTech Starling Bank is searching for a new chair as current chairman David Sproul plans to step down once a successor is appointed. The transition comes as the company prepares for its next phase of growth following recent leadership changes.
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