It is being talked about by Mastercard Head of Crypto Europe Christian Rau how crypto is being viewed as a potential payment technology by the company, and benefits are being seen in stablecoins.
In an interview with Big Whale, it was said by Mastercard’s Head of Crypto Europe Christian Rau that the firm is ‘closely interested in crypto-assets.’ Web3 technology has been gradually integrated by the American digital payment giant into its global payment network.
So far, on-ramp and off-ramp services have been deployed by the group on cards that have crypto assets enabled to be integrated into the payment system by crypto holders.
However, it is not planned for it to be fully transformed into a crypto-focused payment system. According to Rau, crypto is simply a potential payment technology, not a revolution. It was stated by Rau that its current strategy is going to have ‘safe and compliant payments’ prioritized. And crypto is now one of them.
In a translated post that was shared by The Big Whale journalist Grégory Raymond, it was explained by Rau that ‘Our strategy hasn’t been changed in 50 years: have people enabled to pay and businesses to be paid in a safe and compliant manner.’
It was added by him that ‘Crypto fits into this logic. The system is not being sought to be reinvented by us, but to have it enriched.’
At the moment, any concrete plans to have its own blockchain built are not being had by the firm. But the option has not been completely taken off the table.
It was said by him that, ‘Interoperability with existing solutions is prioritized by us. But if none of them meet our needs, it could be considered by us.’
Moreover, a few of the company’s recent collaborations with crypto firms like MetaMask, Bitget, MoonPay, Kraken and more were mentioned by Rau. Mastercard became the foundation for crypto firms to have merchants tapped into that support card payments, which allows crypto payments to be made by crypto holders at offline and online stores.
It was said by Rau that for crypto, which is a fairly new technology for Mastercard, the implementation becomes more complex when it comes to non-custodial wallets.
It was said by him that ‘With MetaMask, an architecture had to be created where the availability of funds is verified in real-time by a smart contract.’
Mastercard Embraces Stablecoins as a New Frontier for Payments
Most recently, the stablecoin wave has been observed with interest by the firm. Stablecoins are considered by Rau to be a useful technology for transactions to be processed faster and cross-border settlements to be improved. In fact, Mastercard’s volumes have been surpassed by stablecoin transaction volumes.
In 2024, the total stablecoin transaction volume was reached at approximately $27.6 trillion. This surpassed the combined transaction volume of both Visa and Mastercard.
On the other hand, it is believed by him that traditional financial systems cannot be fully replaced by stablecoins. Despite this, the adoption wave of stablecoins is not being viewed as competition by the firm, but as an opportunity to have their financial payment system expanded.
It was said by Rau that ‘They are considered by us as a settlement technology. Cross-border payments can be improved or exchange rate risks can be reduced by them. But the services that are provided by us, such as protection in case of disputes, are not replaced by them.’
Partnerships with stablecoin issuer Circle and payment providers like MoonPay have had Mastercard enabled to actively participate in the stablecoin wave that is sweeping the globe.
It was written by the company in a statement from June 2025 that ‘Today, millions of people are already enabled to have their stablecoin balances spent at over 150 million Mastercard merchant locations worldwide.’
