According to a report According to Fortune, Mastercard is in advanced talks to acquire Zerohash, a startup specializing in cryptocurrency and stablecoin infrastructure, for an estimated value between $1.5 billion and $2 billion.
Mastercard’s $2 billion bet on Zerohash
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Chicago, Zerohash focuses on building stablecoin and blockchain infrastructure, facilitating payments and cryptocurrency trading. If this acquisition goes through, it would mark one of Mastercard’s largest investments in the stablecoin sector.
This potential move follows Mastercard’s previous talks with BVNK, another stablecoin startup, where it was reportedly in talks to acquire the company for around $2 billion.
However, those talks appear to have concluded with the American company cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase wins the tender, placing the startup in an exclusivity agreement that prevents BVNK from considering other offers.
Additionally, companies like Mastercard, which are traditionally tied to the broader financial landscape, have entered the stablecoin market. Giants like Citi and JP Morgan are doing the same after the approval of the GENIUS Act for stablecoins in the United States.
The recent acquisition of Bridge, a stablecoin startup, by payments company Stripe for $1.1 billion has spurred increased interest and investment in this area. Both Stripe’s purchase and Coinbase’s negotiations with BVNK signify a strong commitment to integrating stablecoins and cryptocurrencies in the future. payment systems.
Growing interest in stablecoins
The report also highlights that proponents of stablecoins argue that they offer several advantages over traditional transaction methods, such as bank transfers and FASTincluding faster transaction speeds and lower processing costs.
However, the infrastructure needed to support this emerging future remains underdeveloped, leading big players like Mastercard, Coinbase, and Stripe to seek partnerships with startups that can improve their product offerings.
Zerohash distinguishes itself by providing a broader range of services, allowing companies to establish their own crypto trading platforms and offer Application programming interface (API) for tokenization, which involves converting traditional financial assets into blockchain-compatible forms.
Backed by investors such as Interactive Brokers, Apollo, Point72 Ventures, and Nyca, Zerohash recently completed a $104 million funding round at a $1 billion valuation.
While the rise of stablecoins has the potential to disrupt Mastercard’s traditional business model (which is based on charging interchange fees on transactions), the company has remained active in the crypto space.
This includes its acquisition of blockchain analytics company CipherTrace in 2021, although it later discontinued many of CipherTrace’s core products. Recently, Mastercard has intensified its focus on stablecoins, shown in such acquisitions in line with the broader interest not only in this sector of the industry, but also in cryptocurrency-focused exchange-traded funds and digital asset treasuries by the world’s largest asset managers.
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