Mastercard Buys BVNK for $1.8 Billion in Stablecoin Push
Mastercard paid $1.8 billion for BVNK, in a deal described as the largest stablecoin acquisition on record, signaling a deeper push by major payment networks into blockchain-based settlement infrastructure. The move came as investors focused on a 6-percentage-point slowdown in April travel at Mastercard, while Visa on April 29 added five new blockchains and reached a $7 billion annualized settlement run rate, up 50% from the prior quarter.
The activity points to intensifying competition around stablecoin rails in B2B cross-border payments. The material also cited April 28 FIDO standards work with Google and an April 30 Wizard launch with Stripe as signs that agentic-commerce tools are being built alongside Mastercard’s tokenized card network rather than replacing it, while Mastercard was said to still have $11.7 billion remaining under its buyback program.
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@theaiportfoliosCommentary: Mastercard just paid $1.8B for BVNK, the largest stablecoin acquisition ever recorded. The market spent Friday selling MA on a 6-percentage-point April travel slowdown while management was buying the rails their highest-margin