Mastercard (MA) Launches New Partnership Program for Cryptocurrencies

Payment giant Mastercard MA -1.80% ▼ is launching a new global partnership program to keep cryptocurrency payments connected to its network as digital assets continue to gain traction. As part of the project, the company is bringing together more than 85 digital asset firms, payment providers, and financial institutions, including USDC owner Circle Internet Group CRCL -1.85% ▼ . Essentially, Mastercard wants to make sure that even as crypto payments grow, they continue to flow through its infrastructure rather than bypassing it entirely.

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To make that possible, the program is focused on helping digital asset companies scale their operations while integrating more easily into existing payment systems. In other words, Mastercard is offering tools that allow crypto firms to plug into the same networks already used by banks, merchants, and payment processors around the world.

Nevertheless, it’s worth noting that stablecoins have often been promoted as a technology that could bypass card networks and eliminate the fees they charge. However, Mastercard and Visa V -1.51% ▼ have been developing their own stablecoin-related projects since at least 2021 in order to counter this narrative. As a result, they are effectively betting that even if stablecoins continue to grow in popularity, the companies issuing those tokens will still rely on established networks to reach merchants and consumers.

Which Payment Stock Is the Better Buy?

Turning to Wall Street, out of the three stocks mentioned above, analysts think that MA stock has the most room to run. In fact, MA’s average price target of $662.35 per share implies 31.3% upside potential.

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