Mastercard Announces Increased Support for Stablecoins

Mastercard Embraces Stablecoins: A New Era for Payments?

Mastercard has announced its support for four stablecoins within its network, signaling a significant step towards integrating digital currencies into mainstream finance. The supported stablecoins include USDG from Paxos, FIUSD from Fiserv, PYUSD from PayPal, and USDC from Circle.

The company believes stablecoins can address real-world challenges and aims to elevate their utility through its platform. Mastercard already enables cryptocurrency usage at over 150 million merchants, thanks to partnerships with companies like Metamask, CryptoCom, OKX, and Kraken.

Mastercard is also facilitating the reverse process, allowing users to purchase stablecoins on major exchanges using their cards, regardless of the currency used for the initial payment.

“We’re not just enabling transactions with stablecoins — we’re helping to make them safe, compliant, and built to last,” stated Jorn Lambert, Chief Product Officer at Mastercard.

While cryptocurrency transactions can occur directly between wallets, Mastercard views its cards as a more reliable payment method, potentially merging the best aspects of both systems.

Solutions for Retail and Businesses

Mastercard is introducing solutions for both individual users and businesses. These include:

• Mastercard Move: Enables businesses and wallets to send and receive stablecoins.
• Mastercard One Credential: Allows users to make payments in stablecoins or fiat currencies using a single product.
• Mastercard Multi-Token Network (MTN): Facilitates programmable payments and settlements with stablecoins, even in B2B transactions. Fiserv intends to use MTN to support banks.

Mastercard’s partnership with Fiserv, the issuer of FIUSD, will focus on key areas such as efficient on/off-ramps, FIUSD settlement for merchants, connectivity with the MTN, and stablecoin-linked cards.

“Together, Fiserv and Mastercard will enable the issuance of cards linked to stablecoins for their clients, allowing consumers and businesses to make payments with FIUSD anywhere in the world that accepts Mastercard,” the company said.

With Mastercard One Credential, users can choose between debit, credit, or stablecoin balance for payments.

While cryptocurrencies offer advantages like low transaction fees, cards provide support for recurring payments and broader merchant acceptance. These partnerships aim to leverage the strengths of both.

However, the dominance of U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins raises concerns for other countries.

Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, has cited these figures to urge the swift creation of a Digital Euro, fearing that stablecoin adoption could weaken monetary policies, particularly in countries with weaker currencies.