Mastercard Launches First Stablecoin Transactions in Africa and the Middle East

It seems that every week, a new brick is added to the gateway between the world of cryptos and our daily lives. A debit card here, a trading app there, or a bank that suddenly “wakes up” to integrate Bitcoin or Ethereum into its customer offers. Some focus on derivative products. Others, more pragmatic, prefer to inject these new assets into the real economy. And in this chorus of initiatives, Circle plays its part with a boldness that deserves attention.

When the USDC stablecoin becomes the currency of banks and merchants

Circle, one of the approved stablecoin companies in Europe, hasn’t just added a “pay with crypto” button on a web interface. The American company injects USDC into the veins of the global banking system. And the news shaking the backstage? Mastercard now accepts settlements in USDC and EURC stablecoins across a whole part of the globe: Eastern Europe, Africa, Middle East.

Arab Financial Services (Bahrain) and Eazy Financial Services (Saudi Arabia) are the first to take the step. But this is just the beginning. The integration of the stablecoin into Finastra’s Global PAYplus platform paves the way for 50 countries and $5 trillion of potential flows.

For Kash Razzaghi, Chief Business Officer of Circle, the partnership is a strategic turning point:

Our expanded partnership with Mastercard will enable wider reach, global access, and scaled impact, so that USDC can become as ubiquitous as traditional payments.

And Mastercard, speaking through Dimitrios Dosis, EEMEA president, does not hide its desire to standardize these tools. The idea? To unite banking and blockchain worlds via stable currencies. Fiat meets on-chain. And all this while respecting regulatory requirements.

Mastercard, between discreet metamorphosis and assumed crypto strategy

Mastercard is no longer just the credit card giant we think we know. The company is transforming into a bridge between traditional finance and cryptocurrencies, heavily investing in decentralized payment architecture. More than just supporting the USDC stablecoin, it is building a worldwide interoperable infrastructure.

Concretely, Mastercard relies on a series of hybrid tools: Crypto Credential to authenticate identities on blockchain, Crypto Secure to detect fraud, and MTN to enable payments in multiple digital assets. Added to this are partnerships with Bybit and S1lkPay, which offer direct settlements in USDC via crypto cards.

Dimitrios Dosis (Mastercard EEMEA) confirms: 

We know trust is essential to scale, and we are proud to play a leading role by leveraging our decades of experience in security and compliance in the stablecoin universe.

5 facts demonstrating Circle and Mastercard’s global offensive

• +90%: annual USDC growth, now at $65.2 billion;
• 28%: Circle’s share of the dollar-backed stablecoin market;
• Zero fees: for USDC/USD conversions via OKX, liquidity engine;
• 50 countries: access USDC settlements via the Finastra platform;
• 4 Korean banks: in talks with Circle for a potential digital won issuance.

Beyond announcements and existing partnerships, Circle nurtures another dream: that of creating a bank for USDC. A request to this effect has been filed with the US banking regulator. The idea? To offer a structure that would anchor the stablecoin in a native banking environment, between regulation and innovation. A logical evolution for an asset that wants to leave the simple crypto frame and become a monetary backbone of the digital world.