From Mastercards latest acquisition, to the cancellation of an IPO and new market offerings from Paypal, join Callum Williams, Payment Expert Senior Journalist, as he explores the biggest stories in crypto this week on Blockchain Bulletin.

Mastercard’s latest expansion

Mastercards acquisition of BVNK for $1.8bn has been finalised.

BVNK’s stable coin payment infrastructure will now be integrated into Mastercard’s global payment network – connecting on-chain payments with traditional fiat rails.

This comes after reports that Crypto-exchange platform Coinbase was on the verge of acquiring BVNK in November last year, before the deal fell through.

Kraken Offering Put On Pause

Crypto-exchange Kraken has reportedly paused plans for an initial public offering (IPO) citing market conditions as the main factor as prices have been falling since October.

Kraken quietly filed an S1 draft with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed IPO last November.

Progress in the Senate

Senator Tim Scott has revealed that a crypto market bill, which found itself quickly stalled, is now making progress.

The Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee said a new drop proposal could be in his hands as early as this week with issues like stable coin interest, the Trump family’s crypto agenda and bipartisan support being discussed behind the scenes.

PayPal Announces New Stable Coin

Digital payment operator PayPal recently announced its PYUSD stable coin will be available to 70 new markets as of this week.

The initial roll out will target Europe, Latin America and the Asian markets, with remaining regions seeing access granted in the next couple days.

Ripple Scales in LatAm

Blockchain payment firm Ripple is scaling its digital asset services in Brazil as it awaits a regulatory license. 

Intending to bundle it’s crossborder and digital asset custody services under one roof, Ripple has seen usage throughout the region with Brazilian companies like Banco Genial and Braza Bank already using its services.