# Mastercard in Acquisition Talks with ZeroHash: Fortune

*Author: Jack Inabinet*
*Published: Oct 29, 2025*
*Source: https://www.bankless.com/read/news/zerohash-entertaining-acquisition-talks-with-mastercard-fortune*

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According to [Fortune](https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/10/29/mastercard-zerohash-acquisition-bvnk-stablecoins-coinbase/), Mastercard is ready to take a big leap into crypto infrastructure. The payments giants is reportedly in "late-stage talks" to acquire custody startup ZeroHash.

## What's the Scoop?
- **Acquisition Rumors: **Fortune is reporting that** **Mastercard is in late-stage negotiations to acquire Zerohash – a leading provider of crypto and stablecoin infrastructure – in a deal valued between $1.5B and $2B. While not yet been finalized, the acquisition would mark Mastercard’s largest-ever investment into the digital asset arena.
- **Existing Presence:** Although not quite a direct player in the crypto industry, Mastercard frequently engages in pilot programs with the industry. For example, Mastercard [expanded](https://www.mastercard.com/news/eemea/en/newsroom/press-releases/en/2025-1/august/mastercard-expands-partnership-with-circle-to-transform-digital-settlement-for-merchants-and-acquirers-in-region/) its emerging market USDC settlement partnership with Circle in August and [joined](https://www.mastercard.com/us/en/news-and-trends/stories/2025/mastercard-stablecoin-utility-and-scale.html) the Paxos "Global Dollar Network" in June.
- **Mastercard's Pivot: **Earlier this month, Mastercard and Coinbase were [reportedly](https://www.theblock.co/post/374100/coinbase-mastercard-stablecoin-bvnk) engaged in a contested bidding war for stablecoin firm BVNK. Coinbase was allegedly closer to winning the deal, and it appears that Mastercard's focus shift to ZeroHash will fill its infrastructure void.
- **Recent Raise:** In September, ZeroHash [raised](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/09/23/3154607/0/en/Interactive-Brokers-leads-zerohash-capital-raise-as-Morgan-Stanley-Apollo-and-SoFi-also-make-significant-Onchain-Infrastructure-Investment-zerohash-Reaches-Unicorn-Status-and-is-no.html) $104M at a $1B valuation through a Series D-2 raise led by stock brokerage Interactive Brokers with participation from Morgan Stanley, SoFi, Apollo Global, and more.

> another crypto M&A scoop w/ [@leomschwartz](https://twitter.com/leomschwartz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw): after losing out to coinbase on BVNK, mastercard is poised to acquire Zerohash for between $1.5 and $2 billion, according to sources familiar with the deal [pic.twitter.com/2mqXc1tQrJ](https://t.co/2mqXc1tQrJ)— Ben Weiss (@bdanweiss) [October 29, 2025](https://twitter.com/bdanweiss/status/1983623041369473276?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)