SoFi Technologies has struck a deal with Mastercard to let transactions across Mastercard’s global payments network be settled in SoFiUSD, the dollar-backed stablecoin issued by SoFi Bank. The partnership enables issuers and acquirers to use a bank-issued digital dollar for card-transaction settlement.
Under the agreement, SoFi Bank N.A. will settle its own Mastercard credit and debit transactions in SoFiUSD. SoFi’s payments platform Galileo will offer client banks and card issuers the option to settle transactions on Mastercard’s network using the stablecoin.
SoFi says SoFiUSD is the first stablecoin issued by a U.S. nationally chartered, insured deposit bank on a public, permissionless blockchain. Launched in December, the token is issued by OCC-regulated SoFi Bank and is backed 1:1 by cash reserves. Mastercard’s Multi-Token Network is expected to support SoFiUSD alongside fiat currencies, tokenized deposits and other digital assets, and settlement using the stablecoin could occur 24/7.
The companies also plan to explore other use cases—subject to regulatory requirements and Mastercard network rules—such as cross-border remittances, business-to-business transfers, programmable treasury functions and stablecoin-enabled card programs.
Mastercard’s move follows other activity in the stablecoin space: in November the firm partnered with Thunes to expand stablecoin wallet payouts via Mastercard Move, enabling near real-time transfers to regulated stablecoin wallets.
Rival Visa has similarly expanded stablecoin support. In September Visa tested stablecoin-based cross-border settlement with a Visa Direct pilot using Circle’s USDC and EURC for pre-funded international transfers, later adding support for four stablecoins across four blockchains and conversion into more than 25 fiat currencies. Visa has also piloted direct stablecoin payouts for businesses to send funds straight to recipients’ stablecoin wallets. In Europe, Quantoz Payments became a principal Visa member, enabling Visa-branded debit cards backed by regulated e-money tokens and supporting stablecoin-linked fintech products.
The broader stablecoin market remains sizable: DefiLlama reported a total market capitalization of roughly $311.28 billion at the time of writing. Transaction volumes reached a record $969.9 billion in August 2025, with forecasts approaching $1 trillion monthly by December 2026, per CoinLedger.
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