Mastercard pursues acquisition of a $2 billion virtual asset firm…"Will it accelerate the era of 24-hour payments?"

While Mastercard is reviewing the acquisition of virtual asset (cryptocurrency) infrastructure firm Zero Hash, some say the deal could hasten the era of 24-hour payments.

On the 5th (Korean time), Cointelegraph reported that Mastercard is conducting negotiations worth $1.5–2 billion to acquire Zero Hash. It was previously reported to have also considered acquiring stablecoin payments platform BVNK.

The deal is interpreted as a strategy for Mastercard to secure a stablecoin payment system that can be integrated immediately rather than building its own infrastructure. If the acquisition is completed, the establishment of a 24-hour, 365-day payment system not bound by bank business hours is expected to accelerate.

Zero Hash and BVNK provide institutional crypto asset custody, conversion, payment, and compliance management functions. If Mastercard absorbs these companies, it could immediately secure licenses and customer networks and quickly move from pilot phases to real-world transaction applications.

Currently, card payments experience delays due to bank business hours and batch processing, but integrating stablecoins into payment infrastructure is expected to enable real-time fund movement between exchanges and merchants even on weekends and holidays.

However, several constraints remain for full 24-hour payment adoption. Limits cited include traditional financial network cutoffs (ACH, SEPA), compliance procedures in the conversion process between virtual assets and cash, and real-time anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions screening systems. Liquidity variance, network fees, and stablecoin pegging risk are also pointed out as concurrent issues.

Cointelegraph noted, "If Mastercard finalizes the Zero Hash acquisition and concludes negotiations with BVNK and expands USDC and EURC payment rails to key regions, a financial environment where the concept of 'business hours' disappears could become reality."