Zerohash Secures MiCA License Amid $2B Mastercard Acquisition Speculation
MiCA approval puts Zerohash in pole position across Europe as Mastercard takeover rumors grow
Mastercard buyout rumors collide with a regulatory milestone as stablecoin infrastructure firm Zerohash secures an EU MiCA license, positioning itself to power tokenized payments and banking services across Europe.
Zerohash Europe said it has been registered as a crypto-asset service provider by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets, granting permission to offer stablecoin and broader crypto products to banks, fintechs, and payment platforms across the 30 states of the European Economic Area. The clearance effectively turns Zerohash’s EU arm into a compliant backbone for firms exploring tokenized deposits, stablecoins, and on-chain settlement under the bloc’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regime.
The license lands as takeover talk heats up. People familiar with the matter say Mastercard has explored acquiring Zerohash in a deal reportedly valued between $1.5 billion and $2 billion. Zerohash, founded in 2017, already underpins digital-asset capabilities for blue-chip clients including Morgan Stanley, Franklin Templeton, and Stripe—credentials that could make it a strategic fit for a global payments network pushing deeper into blockchain services.
Mastercard has been widening its stablecoin footprint. In August, the company said acquirers and merchants in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa could opt to settle in Circle’s USDC and Euro Coin, with early adopters including Arab Financial Services and Eazy Financial Services. That program marked the first stablecoin settlement available through Mastercard in the EEMEA region.
Momentum has also reached Central Asia. On September 23, Kazakhstan’s central bank launched a sandbox-based stablecoin pilot with Mastercard and Solana. The Evo (KZTE) token, pegged to the tenge, is being issued by Intebix Crypto Exchange together with Eurasian Bank. For banks and fintechs watching Europe’s rulebook take effect, Zerohash’s authorization—paired with Mastercard’s expanding experiments—signals a race to industrialize compliant, cross-border stablecoin rails. If talks advance, a deal could accelerate bank-grade crypto settlement at scale across borders.
