Why Mastercard’s $2b Move Into Crypto Could End Banking Hours As We...

Mastercard’s rumored $2-billion crypto deals could bring 24/7 settlement to traditional finance, but liquidity, risk and compliance may slow it down.

Mastercard is in talks to buy Zero Hash, following earlier interest in BVNK, in a push toward 24/7 stablecoin settlement.

The deals could give Mastercard a turnkey onchain payments stack, accelerating its move from pilot to production.

Stablecoin-based settlement would let banks and merchants transact continuously, bypassing batch cutoffs and weekend delays.

Yet operational, compliance and liquidity challenges mean a hybrid phase will likely persist before full 24/7 adoption.

Mastercard is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire crypto infrastructure provider Zero Hash for between $1.5 billion and $2 billion after earlier exploring a similarly sized deal for stablecoin platform BVNK.

Rather than building every onchain component itself, Mastercard appears to be exploring the acquisition of a turnkey stablecoin infrastructure provider that could be plugged into its existing payments network. If that goes ahead, it could accelerate settlement beyond traditional business-day constraints toward a more continuous 24/7/365 model.

Zero Hash and BVNK perform similar heavy lifting for institutions. They provide regulated custody, conversions, payouts and the orchestration that enables banks, brokers or processors to move between fiat and stablecoins without rebuilding compliance from scratch.

Folding one or both into Mastercard would accelerate its roadmap from pilot to production, bringing licensing footprints and client integrations on day one. These talks may not be guaranteed to close, but the strategic intent is clear.

Card payments today still reconcile through batch windows, weekday cutoffs and correspondent chains. Stablecoins operate beyond the limits of banking hours. Mastercard has already laid down two key pieces of scaffolding for that world:

Source: CoinTelegraph