In May 2023, Mastercard and MoonPay launched a significant collaboration:

Global Stablecoin Payment Card (Stablecoin Card).

This card allows you to directly spend stablecoins like USDC at over 150 million merchants worldwide that accept Mastercard—no cumbersome withdrawals, no need to convert to fiat currency, the on-chain assets can be “instantly” transformed into everyday spending power.

🔍 What happened behind this?

1. Mastercard vs Visa: The on-chain war of global payment giants

Visa had previously attempted USDC settlement on the Solana blockchain, and now Mastercard is stepping in, partnering with MoonPay to expand compliant payment scenarios.

Traditional payment networks are beginning to test stablecoins as a new form of “settlement currency.”