Mastercard is making waves in the digital payment world with its bold move to acquire Zero Hash, a crypto infrastructure company, for up to $2 billion. This deal represents one of Mastercard‘s largest investments in blockchain technology and signals a major shift in how the payment giant views cryptocurrency’s future.
Zero Hash might not be a household name, but it’s like the behind-the-scenes engine that powers crypto services for banks and financial companies. Founded in 2017, the company recently reached a valuation of over $1 billion after raising $104 million from big names like Interactive Brokers and Morgan Stanley.
Zero Hash operates as the invisible infrastructure powering crypto services for major banks and financial institutions worldwide.
Zero Hash offers everything from crypto custody to trading tools, making it easier for traditional financial institutions to offer digital asset services.
What makes Zero Hash particularly valuable is its impressive collection of licenses. The company holds money transmitter licenses in 51 U.S. states and the coveted New York BitLicense, which is notoriously difficult to obtain. Think of these licenses as golden tickets that allow Mastercard to skip years of regulatory hurdles and jump straight into the highly regulated crypto payments game.
Mastercard’s strategy is shifting from simple crypto-linked debit cards to something much bigger. The company wants to build payment systems that work directly on blockchain networks, especially with stablecoins like USDC. Earlier this year, Mastercard joined the Paxos Global Dollar Network, which supports major stablecoins and demonstrates the company’s commitment to this emerging payment infrastructure.
Stablecoins are digital currencies tied to traditional money, making them less volatile than Bitcoin. The stablecoin market is worth around $230 billion today, and experts predict payment volumes could hit $1 trillion by 2030. The acquisition could enable Mastercard to access yield opportunities in decentralized finance markets through its expanded stablecoin capabilities.
This acquisition puts Mastercard in direct competition with rivals like Visa and Stripe, who are also racing to dominate crypto payments. Zero Hash already processed over $2 billion in tokenized transactions in early 2025, proving it can handle serious volume.
For businesses and consumers, this deal could mean smoother crypto payments and easier ways to convert between traditional money and digital assets. This integration will likely enhance data synchronization between financial systems, significantly reducing manual errors in crypto transactions.
Mastercard is fundamentally betting that the future of payments will happen on blockchain networks, and Zero Hash gives them the tools to make that vision reality.
