Mastercard and Ripple are moving card payments to blockchain.

Recently strengthening its connection to digital assets, Mastercard is attracting investor attention with a new partnership between Ripple and the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini. As part of this collaboration, credit card payments are aimed to be processed using RLUSD stablecoin on the XRP Ledger (XRPL).

This partnership initiates an important testing phase aimed at combining traditional payments with blockchain technology. According to the statements, this project will be "one of the first examples of a regulated U.S. bank completing fiat currency transactions on a public blockchain with a regulated stablecoin." This development is seen as an exciting step for the future of digital payments.

The RLUSD stablecoin from Gemini will enable payments and settlement transactions to be conducted over the XRP Ledger. Thus, for the first time, transactions on Mastercard’s card network will be executed using a stablecoin on a completely public blockchain. WebBank, involved in the project, will enhance the applicability of this innovative technology by providing Gemini’s credit card services.

Gemini is a cryptocurrency platform developed in 2014 by founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, and by offering an XRP-themed credit card, it rewards users with XRP (Ripple) for every purchase. Additionally, last month it launched a Solana (SOL) themed credit card, starting to distribute rewards of up to 4% in SOL. Gemini CFO Dan Chen stated, "With the Gemini Credit Card, we are making it possible to use digital assets in everyday spending," emphasizing that this step integrates blockchain-based payments into daily life.

XRP Ledger is particularly noted for its high speed and low-cost advantages in cross-border payments. The choice of Mastercard and Gemini to use RLUSD on the XRP Ledger signifies the testing of the payment capacity on an institutional level on the network.

Additionally, Mastercard announced a partnership with the digital identity platform Humanity Protocol, aiming to facilitate users' access to banking services such as credit and loans through open finance technologies. These partnerships reinforce Mastercard’s leadership in blockchain-based identity solutions and open finance infrastructures.