Mastercard strategic investment in Zerohash: Traditional financial giants' crypto infrastructure deployment

Mastercard is planning a strategic investment in blockchain infrastructure company Zerohash, a move that has garnered attention in the crypto industry. The background of this news is that Zerohash chose to remain independent, leading to the termination of a previous acquisition negotiation worth up to $2 billion. If this strategic investment is ultimately realized, it will be a classic win-win deal: the payments giant deepens its blockchain capabilities, while Zerohash maintains independence and gains strategic resource support.

Strategic Transformation

Zerohash’s strategic choice, combined with Mastercard’s investment logic, paints a development picture for the crypto infrastructure track. This potential deal reflects a reassessment of the value of blockchain infrastructure companies by traditional financial institutions.

In October last year, market rumors indicated that Mastercard had entered late-stage negotiations to acquire Zerohash, with a potential deal value of up to $2 billion. However, the latest developments show that this massive acquisition did not materialize. Zerohash explicitly stated that it is not considering being acquired and will continue to expand its business cooperation with Mastercard. This stance of maintaining independence demonstrates the crypto-native company’s desire to control its own development path.

Company Analysis

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Chicago, USA, Zerohash is a company focused on providing infrastructure for cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and tokenized assets. Through APIs and embeddable development kits, it enables banks, brokerages, and fintech firms to easily integrate digital asset services. Its services cover account funding, cross-border payments, fiat and crypto exchanges, as well as trading and staking.

In October 2025, Zerohash completed a Series D+ funding round of $104 million led by Interactive Brokers. Participants included well-known institutions such as Morgan Stanley, SoFi, Apollo, Jump Crypto, and others.

The company’s operations now span 190 countries, supporting over 5 million users. Zerohash’s regulatory compliance infrastructure is especially favored by partners, enabling it to operate globally.

Table: Key Business Data Overview of Zerohash

Business Case

Recently, Zerohash’s collaboration with HR platform Gusto showcased its infrastructure’s practical application scenarios.

The two companies are testing a stablecoin payroll payment solution. Through Zerohash’s regulated on-chain settlement infrastructure, Gusto’s clients can choose to receive income in digital dollars. This cooperation marks a shift of stablecoins from experimental use cases to core financial infrastructure. Compared to traditional cross-border payments that take 3 to 7 days to settle, payments via Zerohash’s stablecoin channels can be completed within minutes.

Zerohash founder and CEO Edward Woodford stated, “As the workforce becomes increasingly globalized and digital, traditional payment channels can no longer meet modern enterprises’ demands for speed and accessibility.”

Investment Motivation

Mastercard’s interest in Zerohash reflects a strategic emphasis by traditional payment giants on blockchain infrastructure. M&A activity in the crypto industry is warming up, with the most attractive targets shifting from speculative deals to mature infrastructure projects with revenue and regulatory foundations. Mastercard has maintained an active stance in digital assets over the past few years. Reports indicate that the company has considered acquiring London-based fintech BVNK, which focuses on building stablecoin payment infrastructure, alongside Coinbase.

Through strategic investment in Zerohash, Mastercard can acquire key blockchain infrastructure capabilities without the risks associated with full acquisition and integration. This arrangement allows Zerohash to maintain its independence and innovation speed while gaining resources and network support from a payments giant.

Industry Trends

Mastercard’s potential investment in Zerohash reflects a broader industry trend: traditional financial institutions are integrating into the blockchain ecosystem through investments and partnerships rather than outright acquisitions. Recently, crypto data platform CoinGecko has also been seeking buyers, with an asking price of around $500 million. This indicates that the trend of industry consolidation is strengthening, with infrastructure providers becoming the most sought-after targets.

For institutional investors, licensed exchanges and brokerages, custodians and staking providers with institutional clients, and high-margin data and compliance companies are the most attractive M&A targets. These companies typically have established sustainable business models and regulatory compliance frameworks.

Market Observation

For traders focusing on the blockchain infrastructure track on Gate, several key areas are worth monitoring. Although Zerohash itself is not a publicly listed company, this deal reflects traditional financial institutions’ recognition of crypto infrastructure. Crypto assets related to blockchain infrastructure, stablecoin payments, and asset tokenization may attract market attention due to such moves by traditional financial giants.

Zerohash supports over 100 assets, and on Gate, traders can find various digital assets related to these themes. The prices of such assets are often influenced by industry cooperation, regulatory progress, and technological innovation, but the crypto market remains highly volatile, with prices affected by multiple factors.

Table: Mastercard Timeline in the Crypto Space

The blockchain infrastructure track is shifting from early-stage technological experimentation to commercialization. Companies like Zerohash are filling market gaps by providing compliant, reliable “plug-and-play” solutions for traditional financial institutions.

As stablecoins expand in cross-border payments, payroll, and other practical scenarios, the value of supporting infrastructure providers may further increase. For long-term investors, focusing on companies that have established real business operations, regulatory frameworks, and stable customer bases in blockchain infrastructure may be a more rational choice.

Zerohash founder and CEO Edward Woodford recently emphasized in a collaboration, “As the workforce becomes increasingly globalized and digital, traditional payment channels can no longer meet modern enterprises’ demands for speed and accessibility.” This may explain why this blockchain infrastructure company, less than ten years old, has attracted Mastercard’s interest twice—from attempting full acquisition to shifting toward strategic investment.