(Reuters) -Mastercard is in late-stage talks to acquire crypto startup Zerohash for between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, Fortune reported on Wednesday, citing five sources familiar with the matter.
If the deal goes through, it would be Mastercard's one of the biggest bets yet on stablecoins, the report said, adding that the talks might still fall through.
Mastercard and Zerohash declined to comment on Reuters' request.
Card firms are increasingly integrating stablecoins, cryptocurrencies pegged to assets such as the U.S. dollar, into their systems, viewing the technology as a faster, cheaper and safer alternative to traditional payment methods, while tapping into blockchain infrastructure.
Mastercard has long recognized the potential of stablecoins, as reflected in its partnerships with companies such as Crypto.com, OKX and Kraken.
Zerohash, founded in 2017, develops infrastructure for stablecoin and blockchain, which allow companies such as Mastercard and other finance firms in services such crypto trading, custody and staking.
Last month, Morgan Stanley said it would offer cryptocurrency trading on its platform E*Trade from the first half of 2026 through a partnership with Zerohash.
The crypto startup completed a financing round of a little more than $100 million earlier in the year, giving it a valuation of over $1 billion. The funding round was led by Interactive Brokers, while Morgan Stanley, SoFi and others also participated.
The potential deal for Zerohash follows previous discussions by Mastercard and Coinbase to buy stablecoin startup BVNK for about $2 billion, the Fortune report said. However, Coinbase appears to have won that race and is in exclusivity with BVNK.
Coinbase declined to comment, while BVNK did not immediately respond.
(Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
