Chainlink and Mastercard: Buy crypto directly by credit card

Over 3 billion mastercard users receive direct on-chain access to Bitcoin, StableCoins & Co. by cooperation with the technology provider Chainlink-Decentralized and Compliant.

Mastercard and Chainlink have announced a partnership that enables more than 3 billion Mastercard users worldwide to buy cryptocurrencies directly on the blockchain – without a central trading platform. This is handled by decentralized stock exchanges (DEXs) Like uniswap, with technical support from Chainlink and payment partner such as Shift4, Zerohash and Swapper Finance.

Tradfi meets Defi: Infrastructure and technology

The integration combines several key players:

• Shift4 Payments takes over the credit card processing,
• Zerohash delivers crypto liquidity, custody and regulatory compliance,
• With its cross-chain communication protocol, Chainlink secures the bridge between on-chain and off-chain world,
• Swapper Finance performs the actual crypto swaps on Dexs like Uniswap.

According to Raj Dhamodharan, Head of Crypto & Blockchain at Mastercard, the goal is to “simplify access to digital assets”. Chainlink founder Sergey Nazarov also sees the natural evolution. The transition from traditional financial systems to decentralized networks becomes tangible.

After announcing the cooperation, the Link token from Chainlink rose by up to 14% to around 1.30.30 p.m., which reflects the strong market interest. The partnership underlines Chainlink role as a key infrastructure for institutional and decentralized applications.

Why this partnership is important

For the first time, credit card users can buy cryptocurrencies directly on the blockchain without having to register with central exchanges such as Binance or Coinbase. This lowers the entry hurdle for millions of users and strengthens the defi ecosystem. Mastercard had already worked with octopuses and supported StableCoin projects-but the step with Chainlink is much closer to the decentralized vision.

This development could be a turning point for the mass suitability of defi applications. Due to the possibility of purchasing cryptocurrencies directly by credit card without prior knowledge of wallets or stock exchanges, new user groups are opened up. For Chainlink it is a strategic victory: The project positions itself as an indispensable infrastructure when it comes to seamlessly combining real payment networks like Mastercard to the blockchain – safe, scalable and compliant with regulation.