Mastercard has received a BitLicense from the New York State Department of Financial Services, opening a new compliance channel for its crypto payments business. This license allows the company to conduct crypto payments activities in New York State and process the clearing and settlement of crypto and tokenized assets.

New York license plate

The company stated that the approval came from the New York State Department of Financial Services. Mastercard Chief Product Officer Jorn Lambert said that a clear regulatory framework helps increase market trust in digital value transfers and allows related applications to move from the experimental stage to more practical payment scenarios.

Mastercard also stated that this move is part of its long-term strategy, which focuses on more prudently accessing next-generation payment and settlement infrastructure, including stablecoins and tokenized deposits.

Stablecoin payment deployment accelerates

Prior to this, Mastercard had been continuously advancing related collaborations. In March, SoFi Technologies' stablecoin, SoFiUSD, was incorporated into Mastercard's Mastercard Multi-Token Network (MTN). This network aims to connect the fiat currency system with the digital asset network for payment and settlement scenarios.

With the license granted, Mastercard's business scope in New York State has further expanded. For traditional payment institutions, compliance means they can participate more directly in on-chain payment infrastructure, rather than just providing peripheral services.

Payment giants vie for on-chain settlement

Mastercard's move is not an isolated case. In May, Visa announced the expansion of its stablecoin settlement network to five new chains. The company stated that demand for stablecoin payments on its platform grew by 50% in the first quarter of 2026, driving the continued expansion of its on-chain settlement network.

Besides Visa, other cross-border payment companies such as MoneyGram and Western Union are also accelerating the integration of stablecoins and crypto payments. Industry trends show that traditional payment institutions have not been rapidly replaced by stablecoins; instead, they are actively incorporating stablecoins into their existing payment systems.

In terms of use cases, stablecoin payments continue to expand to both businesses and consumers. A previous report by Artemis showed that as of August 2025, business-to-business (B2B) transfers remained one of the main uses; meanwhile, the usage of crypto cards that can be used directly at traditional merchants has surpassed that of peer-to-peer stablecoin transfers.