Crypto tried to cut out Visa and Mastercard — now they’re buying up blockchain companies

Mastercard agreed to acquire BVNK, a stablecoin infrastructure firm, for up to $1.8 billion to rapidly gain the capability to move money seamlessly between fiat and on-chain systems. This move is part of a broader competition with Visa to establish dominance in stablecoin-based payment systems by absorbing crucial blockchain technology before it becomes a major threat. Both legacy payment giants and crypto-native firms like Coinbase (which also pursued BVNK) recognize the strategic importance of the stablecoin middleware layer—which handles orchestration, licensing, compliance, and conversion rails. BVNK holds crucial multi-jurisdictional licenses and infrastructure for cross-border settlement. While stablecoin payments are currently small relative to global volume, their growth trajectory is forcing incumbents to acquire necessary infrastructure rather than build it internally. Visa is pursuing similar strategies through stablecoin settlement pilots and partnerships like the one with Bridge (owned by Stripe), indicating that card networks are building stablecoin capabilities as a complement to existing rails. The risk for crypto-native companies is that value accrues to these infrastructure and distribution layers controlled by Visa and Mastercard, potentially turning stablecoins into another input within existing financial systems rather than a complete disintermediator.

(Source：CryptoSlate)