BlockBeats report, on May 20, Mastercard has abandoned its investment plan in the crypto infrastructure company Zerohash, following the company’s earlier agreement in March to acquire the UK stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK for $1.8 billion.
In January this year, Mastercard considered a strategic investment in Zerohash, headquartered in Chicago. At the time, Zerohash was seeking to raise $250 million at a $1.5 billion valuation, and the company is currently advancing a new funding round with a higher valuation.
Founded in 2017, Zerohash primarily provides APIs and developer tools for cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and tokenized assets. Meanwhile, recent transactions involving Kraken’s parent company Payward and Bullish indicate that consolidation in the digital asset infrastructure sector continues.
In terms of stablecoin payment infrastructure, Mastercard has acquired BVNK for $1.8 billion, with an additional potential $300 million in performance-based consideration. BVNK currently serves payment and payroll platforms such as Worldpay and Deel for cross-border payments, fund settlement, and financial management.
Mastercard plans to integrate BVNK’s technology into its Mastercard Move network to enable 24/7 stablecoin settlement between payment institutions and merchant acquirers, and to explore adding stablecoin checkout functionality to payment gateways.
Analysis suggests that this transaction will further intensify competition between Mastercard and Visa in their "payment networkization" strategies and accelerate the transition from traditional cross-border clearing systems to stablecoin settlement models.