[DigitalToday reporter Chi-gyu Hwang (황치규)] Mastercard has withdrawn its plan to invest in cryptocurrency infrastructure company Zerohash.
A recent CoinDesk report said Mastercard’s $1.8 billion acquisition of UK stablecoin infrastructure company BVNK appeared to have influenced the decision.
Mastercard is known to have considered a strategic investment even after Zerohash declared it would go its own way in January. At the time, Zerohash was in talks to raise $250 million at a valuation of $1.5 billion.
In October last year, Mastercard held talks to acquire Zerohash for up to $2 billion, but the deal fell through after Zerohash rejected it. Mastercard later announced in March that it would acquire BVNK.
Zerohash is said to be pursuing a new investment round at a higher valuation than before.
Founded in 2017, Zerohash provides APIs and developer tools that support financial institutions and fintech companies in offering crypto, stablecoin and tokenised products. Its clients include Morgan Stanley, Interactive Brokers, Stripe, BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, Franklin Templeton and DraftKings.
Chi-gyu Hwang
delight@d-today.co.kr