- After months of talks, Cardano has joined Mastercard’s Crypto Partner Program, which includes more than 85 companies.
Mastercard announced its partnership with over 85 companies in the first quarter of 2026 for the Crypto Partner Program. The initiative brings together stakeholders in traditional and on-chain finance to pave the way for meaningful dialogue as the markets scale into the digital realm.
Among the big names representing crypto and Web3 in the alliance were Ripple Canton Network (CC), Binance, BitGo, Bybit, Gemini, Paxos, Solana (SOL), and more. However, Cardano (ADA) notably didn’t get the invite.
Later, Philip Pon, CEO of Cardano blockchain venture arm Emurgo, said their group has been negotiating with the coalition formed by Mastercard. Their goal is to get Cardano into the Crypto Partner Program.
Fast-forward to Tuesday, the Cardano Foundation, the Swiss non-profit group dedicated to overseeing, promoting, and advancing the Cardano blockchain, finally broke the news that it’s now part of Mastercard’s crypto clique.
Cardano’s Inclusion in Mastercard’s Crypto Partner Program
The latest development marks closer collaboration between Cardano and Mastercard, alongside other members of the exclusive group. It opens the chain’s potential growth across the broader payments sector, especially in cross-border money movement, business-to-business (B2B) transactions, and instant settlements.
Additionally, the partnership will allow Cardano to expand its capabilities in the stablecoin space. To date, five native stablecoins operate on ADA’s home chain, with a combined market cap of nearly $75 million.
These include the following:
- USDCx, backed 1:1 by USDC, has a $46 million market cap and benefits from Cardano’s low-fee, high-security network
- USDM is backed 1:1 by US dollars held at Fidelity, Western Asset Management, and other regulated financial institutions, with a $8.6 million market cap
- USDA is backed by US Treasury reserves and issued by EMURGO, with a $6.7 million market cap
- DJED is backed by ADA collateral held in a smart contract at a ratio between 400% and 800%, with a $4 million market cap
- IUSD is a synthetic dollar issued by Indigo Protocol with a market cap of $9.4 million
ADA’s Performance
Despite Cardano’s major milestone, ADA continued trading range-bound between $0.201 and $0.2154 over the past 24 hours in the daily charts. Its failure to price in the latest development is likely due to traders and investors focusing too much on the upcoming cloture vote on the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act, a landmark crypto bill.
ADA has also notably tracked Bitcoin’s (BTC) performance within the same period.
