Mastercard secures New York BitLicense... Targeting stablecoin payment market

▲ Mastercard, Stablecoin/AI Generated Image

Mastercard is accelerating the expansion of its digital asset payment infrastructure, focusing on stablecoins and tokenized deposits, after securing a BitLicense in New York State.

According to Coingape on May 27 (local time), Mastercard obtained a BitLicense from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). With this approval, Mastercard can expand its cryptocurrency-related services within New York State's regulatory framework, joining existing license holders such as Ripple, Coinbase, Circle, and Robinhood.

Mastercard stated that this approval aligns with its long-term strategy to responsibly participate in a payment and settlement infrastructure that supports digital currencies, including stablecoins and tokenized deposits. The company has recently been expanding its cryptocurrency payment and service areas and is also pursuing a plan to enable 3.5 billion cardholders to purchase cryptocurrencies online through collaboration with Chainlink.

Earlier this year, Mastercard agreed to acquire stablecoin startup BVNK for up to $1.8 billion. At the time, the company explained that the transaction would expand its end-to-end support capabilities for various currency-based crypto assets and cross-border transactions. It is also operating a cryptocurrency partner program to expand on-chain payments. Partners include Binance, Circle, Ripple, Gemini, PayPal, and Paxos.

The program targets enterprise use cases such as remittances, global payouts, payments, and business-to-business transfers. Coingape reported that Mastercard has played a role in connecting traditional finance with the decentralized finance ecosystem, for example, by collaborating with cryptocurrency companies to launch widely used crypto payment cards.

Jorn Lambert, Mastercard's Chief Product Officer, commented on the NYDFS approval, saying, “This approval demonstrates our focus on aligning innovation with regulatory expectations for high levels of security, compliance, and risk management.” Coingape reported that Mastercard's stock was trading at approximately $495 according to TradingView amid the BitLicense approval announcement.

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