Mastercard expands crypto team as stablecoins, not Bitcoin, take center stage

Mastercard is growing its crypto team again. The card network keeps adding people, products and partners to its digital asset operation. What Mastercard has been building On July 1, 2025, Mastercard announced two new Vice President roles inside its crypto team. One focused on partnerships across the digital assets ecosystem. The other focused on helping financial institutions adopt blockchain technology. Those hires sit under Raj Dhamodharan, who now serves as EVP of Blockchain and Digital Assets. His mandate is to connect traditional finance with blockchain rather than build a separate, parallel system. In March 2026, the company launched a global Crypto Partner Program. It brought in more than 85 firms, including Binance and Ripple. In August 2026, Mastercard agreed to acquire BVNK, a stablecoin infrastructure provider, for up to $1.8 billion. On October 15, 2026, Mastercard launched its Global Money Platform. The product lets businesses handle both traditional currency and stablecoin transactions through a single API. The platform is projected to expand to more than 40 currencies and connect with more than 17 billion endpoints. Where Bitcoin fits, and where it doesn’t Mastercard...