Mastercard is expanding its settlement network to support regulated stablecoins, a move that could help deepen blockchain-based payments into the plumbing of the global financial system.
The company announced on Wednesday that it plans to offer issuers and acquirers additional settlement options, including intraday, weekend and holiday settlement, as well as on-chain settlement using regulated stablecoins. The new capabilities will work alongside existing fiduciary settlement processes and are designed to give financial institutions more flexibility in managing liquidity.
Mastercard will initially support settlement using Circle’s USDC, Paxos-issued PYUSD, USDG and USDP, Ripple’s RLUSD and SoFiUSD. The stablecoins will be available on blockchain networks including Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Polygon (POL), Base, Arbitrum (ARB), and XRPL.
While this announcement may seem technical, it reflects a broader change underway in financial markets. Traditionally, card transactions are authorized instantly, but settlement between banks and payment providers often occurs later, in batches and is limited by bank opening hours. Mastercard’s new framework moves the network closer to an always-on model where value can be transferred and settled 24 hours a day.
“The next phase of stablecoin adoption is about real-world utility, particularly in settlement, where timing and liquidity matter most,” said Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president of blockchain and digital assets at Mastercard, in a statement.
The importance goes beyond payments. Stablecoins have long been used primarily for trading cryptocurrencies, but banks, payments companies and asset managers are increasingly viewing them as settlement assets capable of instantly moving money across borders and outside of traditional banking hours.
This deployment comes as competition intensifies between payment networks and financial institutions seeking to modernize settlement infrastructures. Circle, Ripple, Paxos and other stablecoin issuers are increasingly positioning their products as alternatives to legacy correspondent banking systems for cross-border payments and treasury operations.
Several financial institutions, including Cross River, Lead Bank, CBW Bank, ARQ and Nuvei, are expected to be among the first participants to support stablecoin settlement in the United States and Latin America.
