Mastercard Eyes Zero Hash Acquisition for Nearly $2B Bet on Stablecoins: Report

Group 1: Mastercard's Acquisition Plans - Mastercard is in late-stage talks to acquire blockchain infrastructure startup Zero Hash for approximately $1.5 billion to $2 billion as competition in stablecoin payments intensifies [1] - The potential acquisition comes as Mastercard may be losing out to Coinbase in bidding for another crypto payments firm, BVNK [1] Group 2: Stablecoin Market Growth - Stablecoins, cryptocurrencies tied to fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar, are emerging as a significant area for global payment flows, with projected payment volume reaching $1 trillion by 2030 [2] - The growth of stablecoin payments is driven by institutional adoption, FX settlement, and cross-border flows [2] Group 3: Industry Developments - Visa has announced plans to launch a tokenization platform to assist banks in issuing and managing stablecoins [3] - Stripe has acquired stablecoin infrastructure provider Bridge for $1.1 billion and is developing its own blockchain rail with Paradigm [3] Group 4: Zero Hash's Performance - Zero Hash processed $2 billion in tokenized fund flows in the first four months of the year, indicating rising institutional demand for on-chain assets [4] - The startup raised $104 million in September, led by Interactive Brokers and Morgan Stanley [4]