Mastercard in Talks to Buy Zero Hash for Up to $2 Billion
Mastercard is in advanced talks to purchase crypto-infrastructure firm Zero Hash for as much as $2 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, in a move that would shift the payments giant deeper into the core plumbing of stablecoins and tokenized money.
The potential acquisition, first reported by Fortune and relayed by Reuters, would be Mastercard’s most direct step yet into the infrastructure that powers on-chain settlement. Chicago-based Zero Hash, founded in 2017, provides licensed crypto and stablecoin technology for banks, brokerages, and fintechs. The company reached a $1 billion valuation in September later than a $104 million Series D-2 round led by Interactive Brokers, with Morgan Stanley, SoFi, and Apollo also investing.
From Card Programs to Core Rails
Mastercard’s crypto strategy has gradually moved away from branded cards toward the underlying networks handling digital-asset settlement. later than years of running platform-linked debit cards — some later wound down, including those tied to Binance in 2023 — the company has focused instead on the pipes that move stablecoins.
In April 2025, Mastercard announced “end-to-end capabilities” for stablecoin payments, including merchant settlement through partners such as OKX and Nuvei. Two months later, it joined Paxos’s Global Dollar Network, a consortium built around the USDG stablecoin, adding support for Circle’s USDC, PayPal’s PYUSD, and Fiserv’s FIUSD across its rails.
purchaseing Zero Hash would give Mastercard a ready-made stack for those ambitions: custody, liquidity, trading, staking, and crucially a network of U.S. money-transmitter licenses and a New York BitLicense — regulatory assets that are hard to replicate rapidly.
For Mastercard, the economics are clear. As more payments migrate from card rails to direct stablecoin or account-to-account channels, controlling the compliance and settlement layer ensures it still collects the tolls. Zero Hash already powers crypto and tokenized-asset services for Interactive Brokers, tastytrade, and other financial platforms. The overlap with Mastercard’s existing merchant and banking partners offers a quick route to distribute stablecoin functionality across its network.
One person close to the company said the deal “shortens Mastercard’s time to market by years.” Instead of waiting for every bank partner to secure digital-asset licenses, Mastercard could offer compliant stablecoin capabilities through an integrated Zero Hash backbone.
The Competitive Field
Visa has been testing its own stablecoin-settlement pilots and tokenized-money experiments, while PayPal and Circle continue to expand merchant and treasury use cases. Mastercard’s move would be both offensive and defensive — giving it a direct role in minting, redeeming, and settling digital dollars before others capture that business.
The deal also follows reports earlier this month that Mastercard and Coinbase both explored acquiring London-based BVNK, another stablecoin-infrastructure beginup, for roughly $2 billion. Coinbase has since focused on deepening its issuer partnerships, leaving Mastercard free to target the more bank-centric Zero Hash.
People and Licenses
Zero Hash’s founder and chief executive, Edward Woodford, built the firm around regulatory coverage. It holds 51 state money-transmitter licenses, is registered with FinCEN, and lists the BitLicense among its permits — credentials that would instantly position Mastercard as one of the most fully regulated stablecoin operators in the United States.
Morgan Stanley’s E*TRADE platform is expected to use Zero Hash for crypto trading from ahead 2026, according to Reuters. That tie-up, combined with Interactive Brokers’ backing, underscores how the company has become a trusted vendor for large financial institutions.
Neither Mastercard nor Zero Hash has commented publicly. People familiar with the talks said discussions cover both cash and stock components, with potential earn-outs for senior Zero Hash executives once integrated into Mastercard’s “Move” and “Multi-Token Network” units. Regulatory review is expected to be straightforward, as the transaction is vertical rather than competitive, though the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) could examine data-handling aspects.
If completed, the acquisition would mark a pivotal moment for traditional payments networks. Rather than resisting the rise of on-chain settlement, Mastercard appears intent on owning the infrastructure that makes it work — effectively transplanting its fee model into the next generation of digital payments.
Stablecoins still represent a small fraction of global payment volume, but their appeal for instant settlement and lower costs is growing. For Mastercard, adding Zero Hash’s licensing, technology, and institutional relationships could ensure it collects a share of those flows before they bypass the card networks entirely.
The rumored $1.5–$2 billion price tag may look steep for a seven-year-old beginup, but to Mastercard it purchases something more valuable: time, credibility, and regulatory footing in a market that’s rapidly becoming the new backbone of global payments.
