Mastercard has chosen to be a protagonist in the transformation of global payments, announcing its entry into the stablecoin consortium Global Dollar Network to issue USDG.
A step that marks a significant turning point in the company’s strategy, determined to integrate the innovations of cryptocurrencies into its own infrastructure.
The consortium, born in November 2024 on the initiative of the crypto company Paxos and six other partners, includes among its members prominent names such as Robinhood and Kraken.
The objective is clear: to allow members to issue the stablecoin USDG, a cryptocurrency pegged to the US dollar, and share the interest generated by the reserves that support it, generally consisting of US government securities.
Mastercard expands support for stablecoins with USDG: PayPal and Fiserv in the spotlight
The announcement by Mastercard is not limited to joining the USDG consortium. The company has indeed communicated that it has extended support to other significant stablecoins: PYUSD (the PayPal token) and FIUSD, a new stablecoin launched by the banking technology provider Fiserv.
These are added to USDC, the stablecoin of Circle already supported by Mastercard and a protagonist of one of the most anticipated IPOs of the year.
This opening is not random: Mastercard aims to offer its customers an increasingly wide range of digital tools, provided they meet strict regulatory and security criteria.
“If stablecoins are well-structured, well-regulated, and meet our criteria, we will enable them in various use cases”,
stated Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president of Mastercard and head of the company’s crypto and blockchain initiatives.
Despite the opening, Mastercard has not yet clarified whether it intends to support USDT, the most popular stablecoin but often at the center of regulatory controversies.
Another fundamental piece of Mastercard’s strategy involves the integration of stablecoins into the international payments and remittances network Mastercard Move.
Among the clients of this platform is MoneyGram, one of the main global operators in the remittances sector.
Although MoneyGram has not yet commented on the possibility of offering its users the sending or receiving of tokens, Mastercard’s initiative opens interesting scenarios for innovation in cross-border money transfers.
The expansion of Mastercard in the world of stablecoins is happening at a crucial moment for the sector. Stablecoins, cryptocurrencies pegged to real assets like the dollar or the euro, have become one of the hottest topics in Silicon Valley, second only to artificial intelligence.
Mastercard: innovation and integration, not chasing
Even technology giants like Meta, Apple, Airbnb, and X are exploring the potential of this technology.
The most significant turning point, however, has come from the regulatory front: the US Senate has recently approved the GENIUS Act, a law that introduces a regulatory framework for stablecoins.
The measure is now under review by the House and represents, according to many observers, a turning point for the entire sector. In any case, the reaction of the markets was swift.
After the approval of the law, the shares of Mastercard and Visa experienced a decline of 5.6% and 5% respectively, indicating that investors perceive stablecoins as a concrete challenge to traditional payment networks.
In the face of these changes, Mastercard rejects the idea of being late compared to the new players in the sector.
The company, in fact, has invested significantly in the crypto ecosystem since 2021, with the acquisition of the blockchain analysis company CipherTrace and collaboration with numerous crypto entities for the issuance of digital credit cards.
Furthermore, Mastercard has developed its own Multi-Token Network, a sort of “app store” for regulated crypto products, designed to facilitate the adoption of new digital financial instruments.
“We have worked intensively,” emphasizes Dhamodharan, highlighting how Mastercard’s strategy has been to lay the groundwork for a secure and regulated integration of cryptocurrencies into traditional payments.
Fiserv and the Multi-Token Network: a bridge between banks and stablecoin
The announcement on Tuesday also includes a strategic partnership with Fiserv, whose client portfolio comprises banks, credit unions, and numerous other financial institutions.
Thanks to the connection with Mastercard’s Multi-Token Network, Fiserv’s clients will be able to move more easily between bank deposits and stablecoins, simplifying operations and expanding the use possibilities of dollar-pegged cryptocurrencies.
As Dhamodharan emphasizes, “stablecoins themselves do not make anything happen. For them to be truly used and accepted, solid infrastructures and adequate protections are needed.”
In other words, the real innovation lies not only in the creation of new digital assets, but in the ability to integrate them into reliable and secure payment networks.
The entry of Mastercard into the USDG consortium and the expansion of support for the main stablecoins mark the beginning of a new phase for the payments industry.
In a context where regulation evolves and digital technologies redefine the expectations of users and companies, Mastercard positions itself as a bridge between the traditional financial world and the opportunities offered by the blockchain.
The game has just begun, but one thing is certain: stablecoins are destined to play an increasingly central role in the global digital economy, and Mastercard wants to be at the forefront of this revolution.
