Credit card giant Mastercard (MA) is reportedly in late stage talks to acquire stablecoin infrastructure start-up Zero Hash for as much as $2 billion U.S.
The acquisition comes as Mastercard and rival Visa (V) push further into cryptocurrencies, notably stablecoins.
Mastercard could pay $1.5 billion U.S. to 2 billion U.S. to purchase Zero Hash.
The deal arrives as stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies tied to an underlying asset such as the U.S. dollar or price of gold, emerge as the new frontier in global payments.
Stablecoins promise to offer cheaper and faster payments around the world as they operate on blockchains and circumvent the need for intermediaries such as banks.
Stablecoin payment volumes are forecast by some analysts to reach $1 trillion U.S. or more by 2030 as institutional adoption grows amid supportive legislation in Washington, D.C.
On its recent earnings call, Mastercard’s chief rival Visa unveiled plans to help banks issue and handle stablecoins moving forward.
Zero Hash, which specializes in stablecoin payment infrastructure, processed $2 billion U.S. of crypto payments in the first four months of this year amid rising demand.
The crypto start-up company raised $104 million U.S. in September, led by brokerage Interactive Brokers (IBKR) and Wall Street investment bank Morgan Stanley (MS).
Mastercard’s stock has gained 6% this year to trade at $554.58 U.S. per share.
