Here is what crypto card vendors shipped, got licensed for, and announced over the past week.
Mastercard Acquires BVNK for $1.8 Billion
The headline story. Mastercard agreed to acquire BVNK, a London-based stablecoin infrastructure company, for up to $1.8 billion. This is now the largest stablecoin acquisition ever, eclipsing Stripe's $1.1 billion deal for Bridge last year.
BVNK builds the plumbing that connects stablecoin payments to fiat rails across 130+ countries. For Mastercard crypto cards specifically, this means the network is buying stablecoin infrastructure that can connect on-chain payments to its fiat rails and make that flow easier. Faster settlement, tighter spreads, and lower costs are the likely direction, even if the exact card-level rollout is still to come.
Two weeks ago Mastercard announced their 85-company crypto partner program. Now they are acquiring the settlement layer itself. The direction is clear: Mastercard wants stablecoins flowing through its network as naturally as dollars and euros do today.
Gemini: Pay Your Credit Card Bill With Crypto
Gemini announced that Gemini Credit Card balances can now be paid instantly using crypto directly from your exchange balance. No bank transfer, no waiting for ACH to clear. Just pay your bill from the same account that holds your crypto.
This closes a loop that has annoyed crypto card users for years. You earn crypto rewards on your credit card, the rewards sit in your exchange account, but to pay the bill you had to route money through a bank. Now the whole cycle stays inside Gemini.
The Gemini Credit Card remains one of the strongest US Mastercard options: up to 4% category rewards in 50+ cryptos, zero annual fee, zero FX, and it builds your credit history. The Solana Edition auto-stakes SOL rewards at approximately 6% yield.
Uphold Launches the Exa Credit Card
Uphold shipped the Exa Credit Card, built in partnership with Exactly Protocol. The pitch: fixed-rate loans against your BTC, ETH, or USDC. Borrow and spend without selling your crypto.
This is a different model than most crypto cards. Instead of spending down your balance, you are borrowing against it at a rate you lock in upfront. No variable APR surprises, no liquidation from rate changes. Your positions stay intact while you spend.
Uphold is positioning this alongside their existing Elite Card (4% XRP cashback, $99.99/yr) and Essential Card (2%, free). The Exa Credit Card adds a third option for users who want liquidity without disposal events.
RedotPay Secures US FinCEN Registration
RedotPay announced their US FinCEN Money Services Business registration on March 23. This is the third license they have picked up in two weeks, after Canada (MSB) and Argentina (VASP) which we covered in the last roundup.
Three licenses across three continents in 14 days. RedotPay is methodically building the regulatory foundation for their 150+ country coverage. The US registration is particularly significant because it opens the door to deeper integration with US banking infrastructure for cross-border payment processing.
xPlace Makes the Basic Card Free
xPlace dropped the price on their Basic Card to zero. The free tier now includes yield on idle crypto, the ability to borrow against your holdings to spend without selling, and USDC + XP cashback on every purchase.
The Gold tier also got a promotional price cut to $999 (normally $1,000/year), with a $2,000 USDC cashback cap on $20,000 in spending within 30 days. That is a 10% effective return for heavy spenders who hit the cap.
xPlace continues to differentiate on the airdrop farming angle. The $XP token TGE is confirmed for Q4 2026, and every dollar spent accumulates points toward the allocation.
Gnosis Pay Launches Gnosis Ramp
Gnosis Pay shipped Gnosis Ramp, an on/off-ramp infrastructure layer for partners. Instead of each integration building its own ramp from scratch (new docs, new webhooks, new KYC flows for every corridor), partners can now plug into Gnosis Ramp and get fiat-to-crypto-to-card in one integration.
This is a B2B play. It does not directly change the Gnosis Pay card experience for end users, but it makes it easier for other apps and protocols to offer "pay with Gnosis Pay" without building payments infrastructure from scratch.
Quick Hits
- COCA launched 50% subscription cashback for Polygon network users across 13 services. Top up via Polygon, pay for your subscriptions, get half back.
- Bleap is offering $30 back on any EthCC ticket purchased with a Bleap card. Conference season perk.
- Wirex added salary direct deposit to Wirex accounts. Receive your paycheck directly into the same account your card draws from.
- KuCoin is running KuCard signups at Tomorrowland Winter with on-site QR onboarding. Physical presence at a major festival.
- Gate.io launched Gate Pay for AI agents: wallet authorization, on-chain execution, and payment triggers in one flow. AI that can actually pay for things.
Overview
The story this week is networks buying infrastructure. Mastercard spending $1.8 billion on stablecoin settlement rails is the clearest signal yet that card networks see crypto payments as core business, not an experiment.
On the product side, Gemini and Uphold both shipped features that solve real friction points. Paying your credit card bill with crypto (Gemini) and borrowing at fixed rates to spend without selling (Uphold Exa) are practical improvements that make crypto cards work more like the financial tools people actually need.
RedotPay's licensing pace is worth watching. Three countries in two weeks suggests a deliberate global push, not opportunistic one-offs.
If a vendor you follow shipped something we missed, let us know.
