Mastercard to acquire crypto infrastructure startup Zerohash in deal worth up to $2 billion: Fortune

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Quick Take

  • The deal would extend Mastercard’s crypto reach from payments into the core infrastructure powering stablecoins and tokenization.

Mastercard is reportedly acquiring crypto and stablecoin infrastructure startup Zerohash in a deal totaling up to $2 billion, according to Fortune, citing anonymous sources on Wednesday. 

Zerohash is a Chicago-based crypto infrastructure startup founded in 2017 to provide technology and regulatory tools for banks, fintechs, and brokerages to launch compliant crypto trading, stablecoins, and tokenization projects. 

The startup was last valued at $1 billion in a $104 million Series D funding round. That round was led by Interactive Brokers with backing from financial firms, including Morgan Stanley and SoFi, and closed in September. 

Earlier this month, Fortune reported that Mastercard and Coinbase were engaged in a bidding war to acquire stablecoin startup BVNK for around $2 billion. 

Mastercard has been active in the crypto space for several years, perhaps most notably through its extensive support of and experimentation with crypto debit and crypto cards for exchanges like Binance, Gemini, and OKX.

More recently, Mastercard has moved into the stablecoin space, including forging a relationship with stablecoin issuer Circle and joining the Global Dollar consortium alongside Kraken and Robinhood.


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AUTHOR

Daniel Kuhn is a Senior Journalist and Editor at The Block, where he covers the crypto industry with a particular focus on tech. He previously served as deputy managing editor of opinion/features at CoinDesk. He first appeared in print in Financial Planning, a trade publication magazine. Before journalism, he studied philosophy as an undergrad, English literature in graduate school and business and economic reporting at an NYU professional program. You can connect with him on Twitter and Telegram @danielgkuhn or find him on Urbit as ~dorrys-lonreb.

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