Mastercard expands settlement services to support stablecoins around the clock

Mastercard has announced the expansion of its settlement services to support the use of stablecoins for settling card transactions throughout the day, including weekends and public holidays, in a move that reflects the growing role of stablecoins within the global payment system.

Mastercard clarified that the new expansion includes support for a number of regulated stablecoins, including USDC issued by Circle, PYUSD, USDG, and USDP issued by Paxos, as well as RLUSD from Ripple and SoFiUSD from SoFi. Settlement operations will be conducted across several blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Base, Arbitrum, XRP Ledger, and others.

Mastercard confirmed that this development will allow financial institutions and card issuers to process payments outside traditional banking hours, while continuing to integrate with existing settlement systems without affecting security standards or fraud prevention and dispute resolution procedures.

The company added that institutions such as ARQ, CBW Bank, Cross River, Lyd Bank, and Novi will be among the first entities to support the settlement option using stablecoins in the United States and Latin America, with plans to continue expansion throughout 2026.

This announcement is part of a broader strategy embraced by Mastercard to enhance its presence in the digital assets sector, after recently obtaining a BitLicense from the New York State Financial Services Authority, as well as entering into an agreement to acquire BVNK, a company specializing in stablecoin infrastructure.

This move positions Mastercard in direct competition with other global payment companies striving to expand the use of stablecoins in payment and settlement systems. This comes at a time when the total global supply of dollar-linked tokens approaches $300 billion, reflecting the rapid growth of the stablecoin market and its increasing role in the future of digital payments.