Mastercard has launched a new global program aimed at bringing crypto to the financial services sector.
The Crypto Partner program, announced Wednesday, gathers more than 85 companies across the blockchain, fintech, and traditional banking sectors, including Binance, Circle, Gemini, PayPal, Paxos, Ripple, BitGo, and Crypto.com.
The program is designed to test practical applications of on-chain technology within existing payment infrastructure, focusing on areas such as cross-border transfers, business-to-business payments, and global payments.
Mastercard executives, including Raj Dhamodharan, vice president of Digital Asset Blockchain Products & Partnerships, and Sherri Haymond, senior vice president of Digital Commercialization, described the launch as a response to the changing role of digital assets in financial markets.
They said digital assets are entering a new phase, noting that blockchain and crypto are increasingly being used to solve real-world problems rather than working as parallel systems.
For example, blockchain tools can enable instant payments, structured payments, and round-the-clock cross-border transfers—capabilities that complement existing payment instruments rather than replace them.
MasterCard integration for all crypto
The Crypto Partner Program is designed to encourage collaboration across the ecosystem. Participants will work directly with Mastercard teams on product development and strategic direction, helping to shape services that combine speed and flexibility of on-chain payments with the global infrastructure of card networks.
The program also provides platforms for partners to exchange ideas, share knowledge, and coordinate industry standards.
According to Mastercard, the goal is to make it a reality: to translate innovation into solutions that are scalable, compliant, and workable across multiple markets.
This initiative builds on years of previous engagement with the crypto industry.
Mastercard has supported crypto-linked payment cards, blockchain-based startups through its Start Path accelerator, and advanced services to help banks manage compliance and risk in digital assets.
By creating a strategic partnership framework, the company hopes to accelerate the adoption of digital assets while maintaining the trust, oversight, and global connectivity that define its core business.
The move comes amid broader efforts by traditional payment networks to integrate digital assets. Visa, for example, has tested settlements using stablecoins and partnered with blockchain firms to test dollar token payments.
Banks are similarly experimenting with blockchain-based deposits and payment systems. Mastercard’s approach emphasizes the integration of innovation into the systems consumers and businesses already rely on.
Its network covers banks, merchants, and consumers in more than 200 countries, providing a level and reliability that only on-chain solutions can match.
Mastercard describes the program as “built by innovators, designed to ship.” By encouraging collaboration between crypto-native companies, payment providers, and financial institutions, this initiative aims to harmonize innovation across the industry while supporting responsible growth.
For Dhamodharan and Haymond, the goal is clear: “By combining innovation with a framework that powers everyday payments, we’re helping to ensure that what’s next works with what’s already been done.”
