A few days after announcing its tie up with Thunes, Mastercard’s latest move shows stablecoins are quietly becoming back end payout plumbing rather than a front end crypto experiment, with both firms telling Payment Expert that regulated rails and liquidity are now in production, not pilot mode.
Mastercard is adding stablecoin wallets as a new endpoint on its global money movement network, deepening its push into digital asset infrastructure through a partnership with cross border specialist Thunes.
Announced at the Singapore Fintech Festival on November 13, the deal plugs Thunes’ “Pay to Stablecoin Wallets” capability into Mastercard Move. The result is that banks and payment providers connected to Move will be able to push funds directly to supported stablecoin wallets alongside existing options such as cards, bank accounts and cash in more than 200 markets and 150 currencies.
While the headlines focus on “bringing stablecoin payouts to the mainstream”, both companies stress this is about extending existing payout infrastructure rather than launching a new consumer crypto product.
The Thunes collaboration is the latest in a string of stablecoin focused announcements from Mastercard in 2025. In April the company unveiled what it described as “end to end stablecoin acceptance and payments capabilities”, spanning consumer wallets, merchant acceptance and settlement.
More recently it has moved into stablecoin settlement itself, including a partnership with Fiserv around FIUSD that would allow merchants to settle card transactions in stablecoin.
Against that backdrop, adding stablecoin wallets as a payout endpoint via Thunes looks less like a test and more like another step in a broader strategy to make blockchain based money movement feel as familiar as existing rails.
Pratik Khowala, Global Head of Transfer Solutions at Mastercard, framed it to Payment Expert as part of a longer term shift rather than a one off experiment. “Emerging technologies like digital assets and blockchain are a core part of Mastercard’s strategy to modernize money movement for our bank and fintech partners and the end users they serve,” he says.
“Mastercard Move already connects 200 countries and territories, supports 150 currencies, and reaches over 10 billion endpoints. By integrating stablecoin wallets, we’re expanding that reach even further, providing greater choice and flexibility alongside traditional rails,” Khowala added.
Betting on regulated stablecoins, not wild west tokens
One challenge for any global stablecoin rollout is the regulatory patchwork. Some jurisdictions are moving quickly with tailored frameworks, while others still treat stablecoins under broader securities or payments rules.
Thunes president and COO Chloe Mayenobe told Payment Expert the firm is deliberately narrowing the universe of assets it will touch.
“We only integrate stablecoins that are fully backed and properly regulated, and we apply the exact same standards we use for fiat,” she said. “That means strong KYC and AML checks, sanctions screening, and full audit trails. We also use on chain analytics to monitor flows in real time and keep a regular track of the laws and regulations as they evolve in the countries that we transact in.”
For Mayenobe, clearer rules are not a brake on innovation but a catalyst. “Regulation is still uneven from one market to another, but where clarity is emerging, we’re actually seeing adoption accelerate because it gives everyone clear parameters to innovate within,” she added.
That approach aligns with Thunes’ existing work with Circle and USDC, where the two firms have been positioning fully reserved, regulated stablecoins as a liquidity tool for cross border payments rather than a speculative asset.
Liquidity and off ramps as the real battleground
If regulated status is the entry ticket, liquidity and fiat access are where the user experience is won or lost.
“Our first big step in 2024 was our strategic partnership with Circle to incubate USDC, starting with liquidity optimisation. This gives our Members and Network partners 24/7, 365 day instant funding,” Mayenobe acknowledged.
Since then Thunes has rolled out a dedicated solution for digital asset companies that combines stablecoin prefunding with local payout methods.
“Just this month, we launched a new solution for digital assets companies that enables instant, compliant on and off ramps for their end users in their preferred local payment methods and currencies,” she said. “By combining stablecoin prefunding with global fiat access so account top ups and withdrawals all happen in one unified workflow we’re delivering the flexibility and reach digital asset companies need to truly scale.”
Those capabilities are now being exposed to Mastercard Move participants via the Thunes integration, effectively allowing banks and payment providers to tap into the same liquidity and off ramp stack without building it themselves.
One API, more rails
On the technical side, Thunes is positioning stablecoin wallets as just another destination in its existing network rather than a separate crypto product.
“It doesn’t fundamentally change our infrastructure,” Mayenobe said. “Thunes uses one API for both fiat and stablecoin payouts, so our Members don’t need new integrations, stablecoin wallets can be added as a new destination within weeks.”
The interoperability layer, she argues, is where Thunes earns its keep. “Our Members can choose the most suitable rail for each transaction, whether that’s fiat to bank accounts, cards, wallets, or now stablecoins, without managing multiple providers or separate infrastructures. We take on the technical complexity so they can offer seamless flexibility across both traditional and blockchain payment rails.”
For Mastercard, that single connection model fits neatly into how Move already exposes multiple payout options to banks and non bank financial institutions.
Remittances and gig payouts in focus
While the partnership is being framed broadly as “accelerating global money movement”, both companies see some clear early use cases.
“In the near term, we see the strongest impact across two areas: cross border remittances and real time disbursements for payroll and gig workers,” Khowala told Payment Expert.
“High cost corridors and regions with limited banking infrastructure are where this collaboration will move the needle,” he said. “On the other side, gig platforms and businesses operating across time zones need mass payouts that do not stop for weekends or holidays. Imagine a rideshare driver in Latin America receiving earnings within minutes after a late night shift, or a small enterprise in the Middle East settling supplier payments through digital assets to sidestep FX volatility.”
Those examples underline a broader industry trend, where stablecoins are increasingly being used as a behind the scenes rail to reduce FX spreads, cut settlement times and avoid funding idle nostro accounts, rather than as a retail medium of exchange.
A quiet shift in the stablecoin race
The Mastercard Thunes tie up also lands in a competitive moment. Visa, for instance, has been exploring stablecoin prefunding for Visa Direct, while both card schemes have been linked with potential acquisitions and partnerships aimed at building 24/7 on chain settlement stacks.
What distinguishes this latest announcement is that it drops into live, scaled infrastructure on both sides. Thunes’ Direct Global Network already connects banks, mobile wallets and cash pick up points in more than 130 countries, and Mastercard Move is pitched as a single access point to 10 billion endpoints worldwide.
By adding stablecoin wallets to that mix, and by leaning on exclusive partnerships for liquidity and off ramps, the two companies are betting that regulated digital dollars will increasingly sit under the hood of cross border payouts, even if end users never see the crypto branding.
As Mayenobe put it: “Collaborating with Mastercard Move to enable stablecoin payouts is another step forward in our mission to enable the next billion end users to take part in the global economy.”
