Satoshi

2026

<p>The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has officially granted Mastercard a BitLicense to legalize its venture into crypto payments.</p>
<p>The license, introduced in August 2015, is considered the “gold standard” for cryptocurrency oversight. It holds the strictest requirements for compliance, cybersecurity, and consumer protection in the industry.&nbsp;</p>
<p>With it, Mastercard can now support blockchain-based settlements for part of its 3.1 billion global cardholders. This is about 37% of the total global population. Its services will span transmission, storage, and conversion of cryptocurrencies, including the trading of stablecoins and tokenized deposits.</p>
<h2 id="h-mastercard-ventures-into-the-crypto-ecosystem" class="wp-block-heading">Mastercard ventures into the crypto ecosystem</h2>
<p>Notably, the latest approval comes just days after the payments network partnered with the decentralized oracle Chainlink. The latter now provides real-time blockchain-based data to support crypto purchases through Mastercard.</p>
<p>The payments giant also acquired London-based stablecoin payment infrastructure provider BVNK in a deal valued at up to $1.8 billion. This marked the largest corporate acquisition in the history of stablecoins. It also positioned Mastercard as a leading link between traditional banking systems and on-chain networks across more than 130 countries.</p>
<p>Regarding the <a href="https://investor.mastercard.com/investor-news/investor-news-details/2026/Mastercard-Granted-New-York-State-Department-of-Financial-Services-BitLicense/default.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">BitLicense</a>, John Lambert, the chief product officer of the firm, said:</p>
<p>“Clear regulatory frameworks play an important role in building trust and confidence as new forms of digital value move from experimentation toward practical application.”</p>
<h2 id="h-rival-actions-and-public-comments" class="wp-block-heading">Rival actions and public comments</h2>
<p>Visa – Mastercard’s biggest rival and the largest payment processing network in the world – has made similar crypto integration <a href="https://coinpedia.org/news/visa-partners-with-bvnk-to-enable-instant-stablecoin-payouts-globally/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">moves</a> to its payment rails.</p>
<p>Last month, Visa expanded its multi-chain global stablecoin settlement pilot to include five additional blockchains for its business-to-business services.</p>
<p>On crypto Twitter, one commenter championed Mastercard, saying that massive crypto adoption was reliant on <a href="https://coinpedia.org/news/xrp-news-today-jpmorgan-mastercard-and-ondo-complete-a-historic-first/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">institutional promotion</a> rather than “not seed phrases and self-custody.”</p>
<p>Another not-so-optimistic user claimed the payment firms are collecting intermediary fees instead of letting the reward go to miners as Satoshi intended.</p>
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   <p>mastdrcard getting that bitlicense is huge for adoption but still feels like a toll bridge situation</p>— ZeroMazed (@ZeroMazed) <a href="https://x.com/ZeroMazed/status/2059672023362654649?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">May 27, 2026</a>
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Mastercard Bags NY BitLicense to Power Next-Gen Crypto Settlements

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