Rain Secures Mastercard Support to Advance On-Chain Settlement Integration, Valuation Nears $2 Billion

Odaily reports: Stablecoin infrastructure startup Rain is now valued at $1.95 billion and has announced a partnership with payments giant Mastercard to issue credit and prepaid cards, as well as explore the use of stablecoins for payment settlement. Previously, Rain primarily relied on the Visa network for card issuance. This collaboration with Mastercard marks its entry into a "dual-card network" strategy, further expanding its reach into the institutional client market. Rain stated that the partnership will focus on serving large institutional clients that are deeply integrated with a single payment network, enabling them to introduce stablecoin settlement capabilities without altering their existing payment systems.

Meanwhile, stablecoin applications continue to expand across the industry, with institutions like Stripe and Coinbase advancing the integration of stablecoins into payments and settlements, indicating that the convergence of traditional finance and crypto payment infrastructure is accelerating. Analysts suggest that as regulatory frameworks become increasingly clear, stablecoins are rapidly transitioning from trading tools into infrastructure for corporate payments and cross-border settlements. (Fortune)