A bidding war is brewing over BVNK, with Coinbase and Mastercard both eyeing the London-based fintech in a potential multi-billion-dollar deal.
Sources quoted by Fortune suggest the sale could land between $1.5bn and $2.5bn. No agreement has been finalised, but Coinbase is reportedly leading the race.
The interest from two of the sector’s biggest players shows how valuable stablecoin infrastructure has become and the victor will be staking a claim in the future of cross-border and real-time payments.
A gateway to stablecoin dominance
Founded in 2021, BVNK has quickly become one of the most connected infrastructure providers in the stablecoin space. Its unified wallet combines fiat, crypto and stablecoin payments into a single API. This gives businesses access to both traditional payment networks and major blockchains like Solana, Ethereum, Tron and Polygon.
In just a few years, the company has attracted investment from major firms including Visa Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Citi Ventures and Tiger Global. In December 2024, it raised $50m in a Series B round led by Haun Ventures, which valued the business at around $750m.
Visa’s investment in May 2025 was another key indication stablecoins will remain essential, as it was the first time Visa backed a stablecoin-focused company.
Rubail Birwadker, Head of Growth Products and Partnerships at Visa, explained at the time: “Stablecoins are fast becoming a part of global payment flows, and Visa invests in new technologies and builders like BVNK, staying at the forefront of what’s next in commerce to better serve our clients and partners.
Visa Onchain Analytics reported stablecoins saw $27trn in global transaction volume in 2024, across 1.25 billion transactions.
Buying BVNK would help Coinbase grow its stablecoin services for businesses and expand past just crypto users. It would also strengthen its position in enterprise payments.
The opportunity for Mastercard represents a chance to accelerate its push into blockchain-based payments. It would give the company a ready-made platform to compete in the sector.
Earlier this year, Mastercard revealed a new end-to-end stablecoin solution designed to make paying with stablecoins easier for both merchants and consumers. The company partnered with OKX to launch a crypto debit card and teamed up with Nuvei to bring stablecoin payments to more businesses.
Jorn Lambert, Chief Product Officer at Mastercard, said at the time: “We believe in the potential of stablecoins to streamline payments and commerce across the value chain.”
