Mastercard is accelerating the mainstream adoption of crypto payments by building a new payment infrastructure that integrates over 85 leading crypto companies into a unified payment network. At its core is the Multi-Token Network (MTN), a private permissioned blockchain that avoids the volatility of public blockchains. Instead, it uses tokenized bank deposits and compliant stablecoins for efficient and predictable settlement, providing reliable support for institutional-grade transactions. Traditional financial giants such as JPMorgan Chase and Standard Chartered have already joined the network, significantly enhancing its credibility in mainstream finance.
On the user end, Mastercard has launched the Crypto Credential system, replacing lengthy and complex wallet addresses with human-readable aliases similar to email addresses, greatly reducing the barrier to entry. At the same time, the system strictly adheres to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) travel rule, ensuring that every transaction is traceable and compliant with regulatory requirements.
Stablecoins are a critical component of this innovation. Mastercard now supports the settlement of global card payments with major stablecoins such as USDC, PYUSD, USDG, and SoFiUSD, enabling 24/7, near-real-time fund transfers, breaking through the long-standing limitations of traditional cross-border banking systems in terms of settlement speed and cost. Circle is responsible for issuing USDC, Paxos manages the network circulation of USDG, and SoFi has taken the lead in launching a 24/7 SoFiUSD settlement solution, directly challenging the settlement window restrictions of traditional finance.
This collaboration covers the entire crypto ecosystem: Binance supports global card issuance and merchant payments, Coinbase focuses on institutional access and cross-platform stablecoin interoperability, while Kraken and Gemini strengthen retail wallet payment capabilities. The most groundbreaking aspect is the partnership with MetaMask – the two are jointly developing a "MetaMask Mastercard" that allows users to spend directly from self-custody wallets without going through centralized exchanges. This move marks an important compromise by Mastercard on the concept of decentralized finance, responding to the demands of many users for asset autonomy.
According to Payments Dive analysis, the deep integration of stablecoins into the payment network is comparable in impact to the introduction of EMV chip cards, and is expected to reduce cross-border transaction costs by up to 7%, reshaping the global digital payment landscape.