Payments giant Mastercard has secured New York’s BitLicense, one of the toughest regulatory approvals, to advance its digital assets strategy and expand its stablecoin and tokenized deposits infrastructure.
Mastercard Wins Major Regulatory Approval
On Wednesday, Mastercard announced that its subsidiary Mastercard Transaction Services (U.S.) LLC had been granted a BitLicense by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) to operate digital asset services under the strict regulatory framework.
New York’s BitLicense framework is one of the most rigorous and comprehensive crypto regulatory frameworks in the US. It establishes strict requirements for consumer safeguards, cyber defenses, financial integrity, and operational resilience.
The payment giant joins the list of companies to receive the license in 2026. As reported by Bitcoinist, the NYDFS granted GalaxyOne Prime NY, its entity designed to serve New York clients, both a BitLicense and a Money Transmission License last week, allowing the company to provide institutional trading and custody services to clients.
The approval aligns with Mastercard’s long‑term strategy for digital assets, especially stablecoins and tokenized deposits, while maintaining and building upon the same standards that support its global payments network.
It also supports Mastercard’s commitment to “meeting the high standards required to operate in a well‑regulated financial environment as payment systems continue to evolve,” the announcement noted.
Jorn Lambert, Chief Product Officer at Mastercard, stated that “clear regulatory frameworks play an important role in building trust and confidence as new forms of digital value move from experimentation toward practical application,” adding that “this approval underscores our focus on aligning innovation with regulatory expectations of high levels of security, compliance and risk management.”
The company also reaffirmed its goal to advance interoperability, reliability, and trust within the payments ecosystem. Additionally, it emphasized the strengthening of the infrastructure that underpins global commerce, ensuring its safe and scalable operation.
Mastercard Expands Digital Asset Strategy
Mastercard has made strategic moves in the digital asset landscape this year, including the launch of a global partnership program to connect crypto payments to the company’s network.
In March, the payments giant announced an initiative to scale digital assets, integrate them seamlessly into existing payment frameworks, and position itself as a bridge between digital assets and traditional payment systems.
The company partnered with more than 85 firms from the payment and financial sectors, including Circle, Binance, Ripple, SoFi Technologies, Global Payments’ Worldpay, PayPal, BitGo, Crypto.com, Gemini, and Paxos.
This project follows a collaboration between Ripple, Gemini, WebBank, and Mastercard to explore settling Gemini Credit Card transactions using Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin on the XRP Ledger (XRPL).
In addition, Mastercard, alongside Ondo Finance, Kinexys, and Ripple, completed the first near-real-time cross-border, cross-bank redemption of tokenized US Treasuries in early May. The pilot, executed in under five seconds, used XRP Ledger as the settlement blockchain, connecting public blockchain infrastructure directly to global banking rails for the first time.
The company also announced earlier this year the acquisition of BVNK, a stablecoin infrastructure solutions provider operating in more than 130 countries. The deal aimed to expand Mastercard’s end-to-end support of digital assets and “value movement across currencies, rails, and regions.”
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