The Cardano Foundation has joined Mastercard’s Crypto Partner Program, expanding cooperation in payments and stablecoins. The foundation plans to work with Mastercard and other participants on cross-border transfers, business-to-business transactions and settlement, and said the move is another step in linking public blockchain infrastructure with global money movement. Cardano is also advancing AI agent-based transaction support through Masumi and expanding x402 payment support across its networks. Developers are preparing scalability demonstrations using Leios nodes.