Table of Contents
Three South African entrepreneurs built a stablecoin payments company in a few years. This week, Mastercard paid up to $1.8 billion for it.
Mastercard has announced the acquisition of BVNK, the enterprise-grade stablecoin and digital payments infrastructure platform co-founded by Jesse Hemson-Struthers, Donald Jackson and Chris Harmse. The deal is valued at up to $1.8 billion including $300 million in contingent payments, equivalent to roughly R30 billion, and is expected to close before the end of 2026, subject to regulatory review and customary closing conditions.
The transaction makes all three founders instant billionaires. BVNK is a private company and exact shareholdings have not been disclosed, but a 3.3 percent stake at the deal's headline valuation equates to R1 billion. Industry observers expect the founders retained substantially more than that after successive funding rounds in which they raised over $100 million.
BVNK enables businesses to send, receive and hold stablecoins across all major blockchain networks in 130 countries, linking blockchain technology with traditional banking infrastructure to facilitate cross-border payments, merchant payment processing and digital asset custody.
Hemson-Struthers, who serves as chief executive officer, described the combination as defining the future of money. "This deal brings together complementary capabilities to define and deliver the future of money. Together, we're able to deliver an unprecedented infrastructure for digital currency-based financial services," he said.
The company's investor base reflects how seriously institutional finance has come to take stablecoin infrastructure. Series A backers included Tiger Global Management, Avenir and Kingsway Capital. The December 2024 Series B round raised $50 million from Haun Ventures, Coinbase Ventures and DRW Venture Capital. In 2025, Visa and Citi Ventures joined as strategic investors, validating the platform's on-chain payment rails from two of the world's largest traditional payment networks.
BVNK's momentum before the deal was significant. In January 2026, the company announced it would power Visa Direct, Visa's $1.7 trillion real-time payments network, with stablecoin payments. Last month it secured a Crypto-Asset Service Provider license from the Malta Financial Services Authority, enabling digital asset services across all European Economic Area member states.
Mastercard said the combined business would deliver a digital asset and chain-agnostic approach. BVNK will continue operating independently after close.
