Global payments giant Mastercard is extending its settlement network to include regulated stablecoins, according to a CoinDesk report. The company plans to offer stablecoin settlement, intraday settlement, and weekend and holiday settlement services to meet the growing demand for real-time fund movement. This new framework will run in parallel with Mastercard's existing fiat currency settlement processes, providing financial institutions with more flexible liquidity management options.
Stablecoins and Blockchain Networks Supported
For the initial rollout, Mastercard will support Circle's USDC, Paxos-issued PYUSD, USDG, and USDP, Ripple's RLUSD, and SoFi's SoFiUSD. These stablecoins will be transacted across several major blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Base, Arbitrum, and the XRP Ledger (XRPL), ensuring broad compatibility and rapid transaction finality.
Early Adopter Institutions
The first wave of participating financial institutions includes Cross River, Lead Bank, CBW Bank, ARQ, and Nuvei. These banks and payment companies will leverage the new stablecoin settlement rails to transfer funds outside traditional banking hours and during weekends or holidays, thereby streamlining their liquidity operations. The move represents a further step in Mastercard's integration of digital assets into its payment infrastructure, providing a critical building block for the institutional use of regulated stablecoins.