Mastercard announces ‘360-degree’ approach to stablecoin adoption

Payments giant Mastercard is taking a ‘360-degree’ approach to the adoption of stablecoins, teaming up with OKX and Nuvei to power the initiative.

Mastercard announced in a press release on April 28 that its partnership with OKX and Nuvei will help unlock end-to-end stablecoin payment solutions. 

The company wants to bring seamless stablecoin transactions to consumers and merchants, from crypto wallets to checkouts. As with the successful card payments, Mastercard is aiming to harness the future of money transfers to streamline payments, disbursements and remittances.

The “360-degree” approach will allow consumers and businesses to tap into and use stablecoins, Mastercard noted. It should be as easy as using money in a user’s bank account.

“When it comes to blockchain and digital assets, the benefits for mainstream use cases are clear,” said Jorn Lambert, chief product officer at Mastercard. “To realize its potential, we need to make it as easy for merchants to receive stablecoin payments and for consumers to use them,” Lambert noted.

According to Lambert, Mastercard believes stablecoins have the potential to transform the payments and commerce ecosystem, unlocking new benefits for people and businesses.

The partnership with OKX and Nuvei brings a new OKX Card and also enables payments via Circle’s stablecoin USDC (USDC). 

“Our strategic partnership with Mastercard to launch the OKX Card reflects our commitment to making digital finance more accessible, practical, and relevant to everyday life,” said Haider Rafique, chief marketing officer, OKX.

Mastercard supports wallet integration, crypto card issuance and acceptance via key partnerships including top industry players such as MetaMask, Crypto.com, Binance, Kraken, and Bybit.

It also supports on-chain remittances via stablecoins with platforms like Wirex, Bit2Me and Mercado Bitcoin joining the Mastercard Crypto Credential ecosystem.

The initiatives add to the traction for stablecoin use in settlement with the Mastercard Multi-Token Network, which helps enable real-time payments and redemptions. Global banking giants such as JPMorgan Chase and Standard Chartered already leverage MTN, as does Ondo Finance.