Mastercard Secures New York BitLicense to Advance Stablecoin and Digital Asset Strategy

Mastercard Transaction Services (U.S.) LLC received a BitLicense from the New York State Department of Financial Services on May 27, 2026, enabling digital asset operations under New York's strict regulatory framework. The approval follows Mastercard's March 2026 launch of a global partnership program connecting 85+ firms including Circle, Binance, Ripple, and PayPal. Mastercard acquired BVNK, operating in 130+ countries. In early May 2026, Mastercard completed the first tokenized US Treasuries redemption in under five seconds using XRP Ledger.

BitLicense approval

• ▪Jorn Lambert is Chief Product Officer at Mastercard
• ▪GalaxyOne Prime NY received both a BitLicense and a Money Transmission License from the New York State Department of Financial Services in May 2026
• ▪Mastercard Transaction Services (U.S.) LLC was granted a BitLicense by the New York State Department of Financial Services on May 27, 2026
• ▪The BitLicense granted to Mastercard Transaction Services (U.S.) LLC allows the subsidiary to operate digital asset services under New York's regulatory framework

Digital asset regulatory framework

• ▪Jorn Lambert stated that clear regulatory frameworks play an important role in building trust and confidence as new forms of digital value move from experimentation toward practical application
• ▪The total crypto market capitalization was at $2.5 trillion as of May 27, 2026
• ▪Mastercard's BitLicense approval aligns with Mastercard's long-term strategy for digital assets, especially stablecoins and tokenized deposits
• ▪New York's BitLicense framework establishes strict requirements for consumer safeguards, cyber defenses, financial integrity, and operational resilience

Stablecoin partnership program

• ▪Ripple, Gemini, WebBank, and Mastercard collaborated to explore settling Gemini Credit Card transactions using Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin on the XRP Ledger
• ▪Mastercard partnered with more than 85 firms from the payment and financial sectors, including Circle, Binance, Ripple, SoFi Technologies, Global Payments' Worldpay, PayPal, BitGo, Crypto.com, Gemini, and Paxos
• ▪Mastercard launched a global partnership program in March 2026 to connect crypto payments to Mastercard's network

Cross-border tokenized settlement pilot

• ▪The tokenized US Treasuries redemption pilot connected public blockchain infrastructure directly to global banking rails for the first time
• ▪Mastercard, Ondo Finance, Kinexys, and Ripple completed the first near-real-time cross-border, cross-bank redemption of tokenized US Treasuries in early May 2026
• ▪The tokenized US Treasuries redemption pilot was executed in under five seconds using XRP Ledger as the settlement blockchain

BVNK acquisition

• ▪The BVNK acquisition aimed to expand Mastercard's end-to-end support of digital assets and value movement across currencies, rails, and regions
• ▪Mastercard announced the acquisition of BVNK, a stablecoin infrastructure solutions provider operating in more than 130 countries, in 2026