Mastercard is in advanced negotiations to purchase Zerohash, a startup that provides stablecoin and blockchain infrastructure, for a price reportedly between $1.5bn and $2bn, reported Fortune citing sources.
The negotiations are not complete, and the proposed transaction could still fail to materialise, the report said.
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Zerohash, established in 2017 and headquartered in Chicago, offers infrastructure that supports stablecoins and crypto trading.
Its services include tools for firms to deploy crypto trading platforms and APIs for tokenisation—converting traditional financial assets into blockchain-based tokens.
In September the company raised $104m at a reported $1bn valuation and lists investors including Interactive Brokers, Apollo, Point72 Ventures and Nyca.
If finalised, the purchase would be among Mastercard’s larger moves into stablecoin-related technology, the news publication noted.
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By GlobalDataThe company has shown interest in the sector before: it engaged in discussions about acquiring the stablecoin firm BVNK, in a process that involved Coinbase as another bidder.
Fortune reported that Coinbase appears to have secured exclusive negotiating rights with BVNK.
Representatives for Mastercard, Zerohash and Coinbase declined to comment.
A BVNK spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In May, Mastercard’s rival Visa — through its Visa Ventures arm — invested in South Africabased stablecoin payments firm BVNK, which provides stablecoin payments infrastructure via a single API that links banks with blockchain networks.
The platform enables businesses to send, receive, convert and hold both stablecoins and fiat across multiple payment rails and blockchains.
Mastercard’s previous crypto-related activities include the 2021 acquisition of blockchain analytics firm CipherTrace; some of that business’s key products were subsequently discontinued.
Recently, Mastercard has continued to engage with stablecoin initiatives, including participation in a consortium with companies such as Robinhood and Kraken.
