Mastercard expands stablecoin settlement options with USDC, PYUSD and RLUSD

Mastercard announced plans to expand its settlement capabilities to support intraday, weekend, and holiday card settlement using both fiat currencies and regulated stablecoins across its global payments network.

The company said in a Wednesday statement that the rollout includes support for Circle’s USDC, Paxos-issued PYUSD, USDG, and USDP, Ripple’s RLUSD, and SoFi's SoFiUSD, with settlement enabled across multiple blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Base, Arbitrum, Canton, Tempo, and the XRP Ledger.

According to the statement, ARQ (formerly DolarApp), CBW Bank, Cross River, Lead Bank, and Nuvei are expected to be among the first institutions supporting stablecoin settlement optionality in the United States and Latin America. Mastercard said further expansion is planned through 2026.

Mastercard said the expansion allows issuers and acquirers to process transactions outside standard banking schedules while continuing to operate alongside existing settlement processes.

“This approach ensures consistency, scalability, and interoperability across Mastercard’s global ecosystem while preserving existing protections including security standards, fraud safeguards, and dispute processes,” the company wrote in the statement. 

Stablecoin expansion 

The development comes as Mastercard doubles down on stablecoin infrastructure. In May, the company secured a BitLicense from the New York State Department of Financial Services, establishing the compliance framework required to clear tokenized deposits and payment stablecoins within the jurisdiction. 

The licensing followed Mastercard's definitive agreement to acquire enterprise stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK for up to $1.8 billion in March 2026, alongside granting a Mastercard Principal Membership to stablecoin card issuer Rain last month. 

The move places Mastercard alongside other payments firms increasing exposure to stablecoin settlement systems. Visa has been expanding its own stablecoin-linked settlement pilots across multiple blockchains, while MoneyGram recently launched its MGUSD stablecoin on Stellar as part of its global payments network expansion.

Meanwhile, the total supply of dollar-pegged tokens is approaching $300 billion, according to The Block’s data dashboard. Tether’s USDT accounts for roughly $188 billion of that total, while Circle’s USDC ranks second at approximately $76 billion.

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