TradFi's integration with DeFi is picking up steam.
PaymentStripe Mastercard is acquiring BVNK, a London-based stablecoin infrastructure startup.
It is a $1.8 billion deal and one of the largest stablecoin infrastructure deals in history.
Now, MasterCard saying the deal expands its global payments network, creating interoperability between fiat as well as stablecoins.
And Standard Charter says stablecoin velocity has doubled in two years and that the industry will hit a $2 trillion market cap by the end of 2028.
Well, joining us this morning to weigh in is Julia Morrongiello, VP of Corporate Development and Strategy at BVNK.
Good morning.
Thank you so much for joining us.
So first and foremost, on the heels of this announcement for our viewers, take us through the MasterCard acquisition and what this actually means for BVNK.
Thanks so much for having me.
Happy to be here.
So yes, as you've mentioned, BVNK has signed an agreement to be acquired by MasterCard.
And essentially, BVNK, under this agreement, will power MasterCard's stablecoin capabilities globally.
So we're bringing together BVNK's Stablecoin tech and talent and combining it with Mastercard's trust, credibility, and global distribution.
And this really unlocks revenue opportunities that neither company could capture alone.
And essentially our customers, as well as Mastercard's customers, get the best of both worlds.
So they get the Stablecoin infrastructure with BVNK, as well as Mastercard's scale and fiat infrastructure.
And crucially, we believe that this deal brings us closer to achieving BVNK's mission of accelerating global money movement.
So today, BVNK has built infrastructure that enterprises trust to send, receive, store, and convert stablecoins.
We process over $30 billion in annual payment flows for some of the world's biggest brands.
And on the flip side, we have MasterCard, one of the world's biggest and most trusted payment networks that has the distribution to reach almost every business and customer on the planet.
And tapping into this gives us real unparalleled growth opportunities.
And together, we believe we can establish a new standard for how value moves across the world, combining both fiat and stablecoin.
Yeah, Julia, you just mentioned the best of both worlds.
So what will this actually do for stablecoin payments as well as cross-border payments?
I think this marks a real step change in stablecoin payments in that the fact that Mastercard has signed an agreement to acquire BVNK really legitimizes the space. brings credibility to all things stable coins.
And I expect that following on from this, we'll see an acceleration in adoption, particularly from larger financial institutions or more traditional brands that have been hesitant to move into the space.
Yeah, and while we're talking about the growth we're seeing in stablecoins, Standard Charter says the stablecoin industry market cap will hit two trillion by the end of 2028.
So tell us a little bit more about this growth that we're seeing in stablecoins.
It's been, we've seen huge acceleration in the stablecoin market over the past few years.
If you look back to five years ago when BVNK was launched, stablecoins were very much used as a trading instrument. to move funds between different exchanges as a hedge against volatility, we've now reached a tipping point where they are starting to be used for mainstream use cases, particularly all things cross-border payments.
And as we see more of these mainstream use cases come to the fore, we'll see that acceleration grow even further.
So at least in terms of our volumes, they've been more than doubling year over year.
We're seeing a similar trend across the industry, and we do expect this to accelerate in the next few years.
And to round out this conversation, Julie, I do want to ask you about the global regulatory environment.
So what are you watching for when it comes to regulatory progress in the U.S. as well as overseas?
In general, we are tracking for any movements towards greater regulatory clarity.
With greater regulatory clarity comes greater adoption.
If we, particularly when we look at large established institutions, they're reluctant to adopt any technology that has a clear regulatory framework in place.
So we spend a lot of time watching global regulation, watching the developments with MiCA regulation in Europe, which have really helped drive adoption over here.
And in the U.S., we're watching the Clarity Act very closely as well to see what the impact might be there.
But all in all, things seem to be moving in a positive direction with more clarity coming into play.
