Mastercard to Enable 24/7 Stablecoin Settlement Across Multiple Blockchains
Mastercard is introducing native stablecoin settlement across multiple blockchains, allowing card transactions to be settled in regulated, dollar-backed tokens at any time.
Supported tokens will include six regulated USD stablecoins: Circle's USDC; Paxos-issued PYUSD, USDG and USDP; Ripple's RLUSD; and SoFiUSD. The service is set to run across Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Base, Arbitrum, Canton, Tempo and the XRP Ledger.
Mastercard said issuers and acquirers will be able to settle transactions on weekends, holidays and outside standard banking hours. The company positioned the capability as additive, designed to augment existing settlement rails rather than replace them.
Early adopters expected to offer the option include ARQ (formerly DolarApp), CBW Bank, Cross River, Lead Bank and payments processor Nuvei. Initial deployment will cover parts of the United States and Latin America, with additional geographic expansion planned through 2026.
Mastercard said its current operating standards will remain in place as stablecoin settlement is introduced, including security controls, fraud protections, dispute-handling processes and interoperability.
The launch follows Mastercard Transaction Services (U.S.) LLC receiving a BitLicense from the New York Department of Financial Services in May, allowing it to conduct virtual currency business in New York under existing compliance requirements. Earlier this year, Mastercard agreed in March to acquire stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK for up to $1.8 billion and granted Mastercard Principal Membership to stablecoin card issuer Rain, moves aimed at strengthening its digital-asset payments capabilities.
Peers are pushing in the same direction. Visa continues to test stablecoin-linked settlement programs across blockchains, and MoneyGram recently introduced MGUSD on Stellar for cross-border payments.
The dollar-backed stablecoin market is approaching $300 billion in supply, according to CoinGecko. Tether's USDT leads at about $188 billion, while Circle's USDC is around $76 billion.
Mastercard is betting that regulated, cross-chain stablecoin settlement—available beyond bank hours—can accelerate settlement, support cross-border and near-instant transactions, and bring tokenized dollars further into mainstream card infrastructure without weakening compliance or security standards.
