$XRP $COIN Global payment processor Mastercard is making an aggressive push into digital asset settlements by agreeing to acquire stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK for up to $1.8bn.
Contingency payments
The price tag for the acquisition includes $300mn in contingency payments. The deal is expected to close before the end of the year, subject to regulatory review.
Shares of Mastercard were up slightly in early New York trading following the announcement. At 14:50UTC shares were trading hands for around $511, about 0.6% up on the 16 Mar close of $508.50.
Tokens tied to fiat currency have transitioned beyond crypto, gathering attention from traditional finance (TradFi) players. With the acquisition, Mastercard has taken a pre-emptive step to integrate stablecoins into its business.
Digital currency services
"We expect that most financial institutions and fintechs will in time provide digital currency services, be it with stablecoins or tokenized deposits," Jorn Lambert, Chief Product Officer of Mastercard said in a statement.
Last year, crypto exchange operator Coinbase was also reported to be eyeing BVNK, for a valuation of around $2bn
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