Why Mastercard is paying $2 billion for Zero Hash?

Mastercard is reportedly in advanced negotiations to acquire US-based blockchain infrastructure firm Zero Hash in a deal that could reach $2 billion.

The move, if confirmed, would mark one of the payments giant’s boldest forays yet into the stablecoin economy—a rapidly expanding sector of digital finance that traditional payment networks can no longer ignore.

From Back-End Operator to Strategic Asset

Mastercard paying $2 billion for Zero Hash

Founded in 2017, Chicago-based Zero Hash operates quietly behind the scenes of the fintech and banking world.

Rather than offering consumer-facing crypto products, it provides the “plumbing” that enables others to do so.

Through its APIs, Zero Hash allows banks, neobanks, and fintech apps to integrate crypto trading, asset tokenisation, and stablecoin transfers without building their own infrastructure or navigating the labyrinth of global regulation.

The company is already a key partner for major financial players, including Morgan Stanley, which plans to launch crypto trading for its E*Trade customers through Zero Hash in 2026.

It also counts Interactive Brokers, Apollo, and Point72 Ventures among its investors. Last year, Zero Hash raised over $100 million at a $1 billion valuation.

A Fast Track to Stablecoin Capability

For Mastercard, buying Zero Hash would be about much more than technology—it’s about regulatory reach and time-to-market.

Zero Hash holds licences across multiple jurisdictions, covering money transmission, digital asset custody, and stablecoin operations.

Acquiring it would instantly provide Mastercard with a ready-made compliance framework for crypto and digital assets, saving years of legal groundwork.

The deal would also bolster Mastercard’s existing blockchain strategy.

The firm bought analytics company CipherTrace in 2021 and joined a stablecoin consortium with Robinhood and Kraken earlier this year.

It has also conducted pilots using USDC for settlement between financial institutions.

Owning Zero Hash would allow Mastercard to turn those experiments into commercial offerings—providing “crypto-as-a-service” to banks, merchants, and fintechs globally.

The Race for Digital Payment Infrastructure

The reported acquisition comes as financial heavyweights intensify their race to dominate the next generation of digital payment rails.

Stripe recently bought stablecoin startup Bridge for $1.1 billion, while Coinbase is in exclusive talks to acquire BVNK for roughly $2 billion.

As Reuters noted, card networks now see stablecoins as “faster, cheaper and safer” payment tools compared with legacy systems.

Zero Hash’s technology sits at the heart of that transformation—enabling instant settlement and tokenised asset transfer between financial institutions.

With the stablecoin market already surpassing $300 billion and projected by Citi to reach $4 trillion by 2030, Mastercard’s interest is both defensive and strategic.

If completed, the acquisition would place Mastercard in a prime position to define how digital assets integrate into mainstream payments—an arena where speed, trust, and compliance will decide who builds the rails of tomorrow’s financial system.