Structure and history
BVNK Services Limited was incorporated in London on August 5, 2021 and the platform launched in October 2021; its predecessor was the Cape Town crypto platform Coindirect (2017), run by Hemson-Struthers and Jackson. In May 2022 the company raised a $40 million Series A led by Tiger Global at a $340 million valuation, and in November 2022 it acquired the UK EMI System Pay Services Ltd. The $50 million Series B of December 17, 2024 was led by Haun Ventures with Coinbase Ventures, Scribble, DRW, Avenir and Tiger Global; according to Fortune, the valuation was about $750 million on roughly $40 million in annualized revenue and $10 billion in volume. In 2025 Visa (May 6) and Citi Ventures (October 9) became strategic investors, amounts undisclosed.
In autumn 2025, according to Fortune, Coinbase and Mastercard competed for the company at a $1.5–2.5 billion valuation; exclusive talks with Coinbase ended in November 2025. On March 17, 2026 Mastercard announced the purchase of 100% of BVNK Holdings Limited for $1.5 billion with up to $300 million in performance-based earnout; the deal closed on August 3, 2026, ahead of schedule. BVNK keeps its brand, team and products and operates as a subsidiary; the stated goal is stablecoin capabilities across Mastercard's endpoints, 24/7 settlement for acquirers and processors, and stablecoin checkout in Mastercard Gateway. According to the August 2026 digest issue, after the closing Visa issued a request for proposals for a new stablecoin settlement partner.
Products
The core is a payments API: pay-ins and payouts in fiat (Swift, SEPA, ACH, Faster Payments) and stablecoins with automatic conversion. Supported assets are USDC (Ethereum, Solana, Base, Arbitrum, Polygon, BNB), USDT (Ethereum, Tron, Polygon, BNB), EURC, PYUSD (since May 2024) and USDG (Solana); the Stellar network was added on September 22, 2026. Named virtual accounts in euros and pounds via the Maltese EMI have operated since February 21, 2024, with direct SEPA access via the Bank of Lithuania's CENTROlink. Layer1 (June 27, 2024) is self-hosted infrastructure with key management, a trading engine and screening for clients that need their own perimeter. Embedded Wallets (March 5, 2025) provide embedded fiat and stablecoin accounts for platforms.
Public clients and partners: Worldpay (stablecoin payouts to 180+ markets, May 2025), Deel (contractor payouts, and from May 2026 stablecoin salaries in the US and eurozone), Rapyd, Flywire (USDC/USDT pilot, August 2025), dLocal (40+ markets, June 2025), LianLian Global (June 2025), Bitso Business (Latin America, August 2025), Corpay, TransferMate, Highnote, Trust Payments. A USDC partnership with Circle has run since October 2024, and Visa Direct payout pilots funded with stablecoins since January 2026. Annualized volume grew from $2 billion in 2022 to $10 billion at the end of 2024, $20+ billion in October 2025 and over $39 billion by September 2026 per company data.
Licences and regulation
In the UK the fiat leg is served by the EMI System Pay Services Ltd (FCA FRN 901057), acquired in November 2022; crypto services are not FCA-regulated in the UK, and financial promotions are approved by Archax Ltd. In the EEA, System Pay Services (Malta) Ltd operates as an MFSA EMI since February 2024 and holds MiCA CASP authorisation announced on February 16, 2026, passported to EEA countries; a Bank of Spain VASP registration was obtained in October 2022. In the US, System Pay Services (US), Inc. is registered as an MSB (NMLS 2531294) with money transmitter licences in some states; 50-state coverage is provided through a partnership with Paxos as regulated trust and custodian (August 2025). The company claims more than 40 licences and registrations. No regulatory actions, fines, outages or lawsuits against BVNK were found in available sources.
What to watch
- BVNK's integration into Mastercard's settlement products and Mastercard Gateway; the outcome of Visa's search for a new partner.
- Achievement of the targets behind the additional $300 million payout.
- Expansion of US state licences and BVNK's own authorisation under the GENIUS Act.
- The fate of the independent competitor Zerohash after BVNK's move to Mastercard.