Mastercard and MoonPay Team Up to Bring Stablecoin Payments to Global Merchants

Mastercard has deepened its push into digital assets with a new partnership to launch stablecoin-powered payment cards.

Teaming up with MoonPay, the initiative will enable users and businesses to send and receive payments in stablecoins globally, with transactions seamlessly converted into fiat currency and enabling stablecoin payments across 150 million merchants.

The rollout will be powered by Iron, a stablecoin payments platform MoonPay acquired in March.

Stablecoins—cryptocurrencies pegged to traditional currencies like the US dollar—are gaining traction in payments and trading due to their relative price stability.

Yet, regulatory clarity remains uneven.

While the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently clarified that some stablecoins are not considered securities, it left ambiguity around interest-bearing and algorithmic variants.

Notably, it also closed its investigation into PayPal’s stablecoin in April.

Despite this regulatory uncertainty, major card networks are accelerating their investments in stablecoin infrastructure, betting on its potential to transform remittances, digital commerce, and creator-driven economies.

Mastercard Accelerates Crypto Integration in Face of Visa Challenge

Mastercard’s latest move further cements its growing presence in the crypto payments space.

In April, the company announced partnerships with crypto exchange OKX and payments processor Nuvei on similar initiatives.

OKX is set to launch its own crypto card, while Nuvei, in collaboration with stablecoin issuer Circle, will deliver the backend infrastructure for merchant transactions.

These efforts underscore Mastercard’s ambition to stay ahead of the curve—particularly as competition with Visa intensifies.

Just days earlier, on 1 May, Visa unveiled a pilot programme enabling users in six Latin American countries—Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Chile—to make payments directly from stablecoin balances.

The programme is expected to expand to other regions, including Europe, Asia, and Africa.

As both networks race to embed stablecoin capabilities into their global infrastructure, the question becomes: Who will set the pace for mainstream adoption of blockchain-powered payments?