Spokespeople for Mastercard, Zerohash, and Coinbase declined to comment. A spokesperson for BVNK did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Stripe’s purchase of Bridge and Coinbase’s talks with BVNK represent massive bets on stablecoins, and crypto more broadly, as the future of payments. Proponents argue that stablecoins offer advantages over traditional rails like wires and SWIFT, with blockchain technology able to settle transactions at faster speeds and with lower processing costs. Still, the infrastructure to support that future is still immature, and larger companies like Coinbase, Mastercard, and Stripe have sought startups that can help build out their new product offerings.
