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- Mastercard and MoonPay collaborate to enable stablecoin payments at 150 million merchant locations worldwide
- Stablecoins processed $35 trillion in transactions last year, surpassing Visa’s total payment volume, as Mastercard accelerates its crypto expansion amid regulatory uncertainty
Mastercard has partnered with MoonPay to launch a payment card which will allow users to transact with stablecoins at around 150 million merchants worldwide. This collaboration marks another step in Mastercard’s growing commitment to crypto, even as regulatory questions linger over stablecoins.
Mastercard and MoonPay Join Forces to Expand Stablecoin Usage
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to hold steady value by being pegged to traditional assets like the U.S. dollar. They combine fiat currency’s reliability with blockchain technology’s speed and efficiency. Through its partnership with MoonPay, Mastercard will tap into the infrastructure developed by Iron, a stablecoin payment platform MoonPay acquired earlier this year.
With this system, consumers and businesses can pay using stablecoins, while merchants will receive their money converted automatically into fiat currency.
This innovation will enable a smooth and easy experience that fits into the already existing framework, which makes stablecoin payments as easy as traditional card payments.
Momentum Grows Despite Regulatory Uncertainty
Stablecoins has gained massive acceptance and use cases over the years, and are currently worth over $240 billion by market capitalization and predicted to reach $3.7 trillion by 2030. Also, stablecoins have processed over $35 trillion in transactions, a massive figure that doubles Visa’s $15.7 trillion payment volume as per data from Dune.
The overwhelming use cases of stablecoins is evident in the payment landscape even as regulatory clarity remains a work in progress.
In April 2025, U.S. regulators clarified that some fiat-backed stablecoins can not be regarded as securities, easing concerns for some coins pegged 1:1 to the dollar and backed by low-risk assets.
However, uncertainty still surrounds more complex stablecoin types, such as those that generate yields or use algorithms to maintain their peg.
Mastercard and other major players like PayPal, Visa, and Stripe are pushing ahead despite these challenges. Mastercard has recently launched similar initiatives with crypto firms such as OKX, Nuvei, and Circle. The goal is to build a full ecosystem where stablecoins can be used seamlessly, from wallets to checkout and merchant settlement.
Mastercard’s Vision for a Stablecoin-Enabled Future
Mastercard sees stablecoins as more than just a crypto novelty—they are a way to make payments faster, cheaper, and more flexible, especially for cross-border transactions and remittances.
Jorn Lambert, Mastercard’s Chief Product Officer, explains:
“We want to make it easy for merchants to accept stablecoin payments and for consumers to use them just like any other form of money.”
The company is building a complete system that includes wallet enablement, card issuance, merchant acceptance, and even on-chain remittances. This 360-degree approach means people can pay with stablecoins in their crypto wallets at millions of merchants or effortlessly convert them back into bank funds.
Mastercard is also exploring partnerships with major crypto platforms like MetaMask, Kraken, and Gemini, making stablecoins more accessible to a broader audience.
This latest MasterCard partnership puts it in competition with Visa , which recently launched a pilot program allowing customers in six Latin American countries to transact using stablecoins. Visa also plans to expand this service to Europe, Asia, and Africa, signalling growing interest across global markets.
By broadening the reach of stablecoin payments, Mastercard is betting that these digital assets will become a core part of everyday commerce. As more people and businesses seek faster, more transparent ways to move money, stablecoins could be the key to unlocking a new era of payments.
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