Mastercard rolls out 24/7 on-chain settlement using six regulated stablecoins across eight blockchains

Mastercard said on June 3 it is upgrading its global settlement infrastructure to enable on-chain settlement with regulated stablecoins, allowing card transactions to settle around the clock—including weekends and holidays—for the first time in the network's history. Under the new model, issuers and acquirers can choose to clear card-based transactions using regulated stablecoins on public blockchains or continue to use traditional fiat settlement rails. Both pathways will operate in parallel, meaning consumers will not need to change how they pay. The initial rollout supports six regulated stablecoins: Circle's USDC, PayPal's PYUSD, Paxos-issued USDG and USDP, Ripple's RLUSD, and SoFi's SoFiUSD. Settlement will be available across eight networks: Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Base, Arbitrum, the XRP Ledger, Canton, and Tempo. Early partners include ARQ (formerly DolarApp), CBW Bank, Cross River, Lead Bank, and payment processor Nuvei. The first phase will focus on the United States and Latin America, with broader expansion planned through 2026. Mastercard framed the change as a back-end settlement upgrade rather than a new consumer product: cardholders should see no difference at checkout, while clearing and finalization between merchants, banks, and processors can now run continuously. By enabling on-chain settlement, the company aims to reduce delays tied to banking hours, weekends, and public holidays. Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercard's EVP for Blockchain and Digital Assets, said the move expands liquidity management options for an "always-on" digital economy. Ripple SVP Jack McDonald called it a milestone signaling blockchain's readiness for critical payments infrastructure. For crypto markets, the announcement goes beyond a limited pilot: the world's second-largest card network is introducing live, network-level support for six regulated stablecoins across eight blockchains, a notable institutional endorsement for the stablecoin ecosystem. (Original cover image by Grok; BTCUSD chart from TradingView.)