Key Takeaways
Crypto infrastructure provider Zerohash is pursuing a new funding round at a valuation north of $1.5 billion, two people with knowledge of the matter said, after payments giant Mastercard Inc. abandoned its plans to make a strategic investment in the firm.
Mastercard walked away from the potential investment following its acquisition of U.K.-based stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said. A Zerohash spokesperson said the company doesn’t comment on fundraising conversations, while Mastercard did not respond to a request for comment.
The payments processor agreed in March to buy BVNK for up to $1.8 billion, shifting its strategy after it was reported to be in advanced talks to acquire Zerohash for nearly $2 billion last year. Zerohash, which serves clients like Stripe, Interactive Brokers and BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, was last valued at $1 billion in a September 2025 Series D-2 funding round of $104 million led by Interactive Brokers.
The strategic pivot by Mastercard and Zerohash’s new funding push underscore a period of intense competition and consolidation for the digital asset infrastructure that underpins institutional crypto adoption. In the last quarter alone, Kraken’s parent company agreed to acquire derivatives platform Bitnomial for $550 million, while Bullish, owner of CoinDesk, announced a $4.2 billion deal to buy Equiniti. Analysts expect the trend to continue as firms compete for custody, settlement, and tokenization capabilities.
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