Zerohash is pursuing a new funding round at a valuation above $1.5 billion after Mastercard stepped back from a planned investment in the crypto infrastructure firm. The move keeps Zerohash independent while the market for stablecoin, tokenization and brokerage infrastructure becomes one of the hottest parts of crypto finance.
The new raise would put Zerohash above the valuation level discussed earlier this year, when the company was seeking $250 million at a $1.5 billion valuation. The company had already reached unicorn status in September 2025 after a $104 million Series D-2 round led by Interactive Brokers, with participation from Morgan Stanley, Apollo-managed funds, SoFi, Jump Crypto and other backers.
Zerohash sits in the embedded infrastructure layer. Its APIs and developer tools allow banks, brokerages, fintech apps and payment companies to add crypto trading, stablecoin payments, custody, tokenization and settlement features without building the full blockchain stack themselves. That makes the company less visible to retail users than an exchange, but more important to financial institutions that want digital-asset products inside existing platforms.
Mastercard Shifts Its Stablecoin Bet To BVNK
Mastercard’s decision followed its agreement to acquire BVNK for up to $1.8 billion, including $300 million in contingent payments. BVNK gives Mastercard stablecoin infrastructure for cross-border payments, merchant settlement and fiat-to-blockchain connectivity, reducing the need for a separate Zerohash investment while Mastercard builds deeper internal capabilities.
The shift does not weaken the broader infrastructure thesis. It shows how aggressively payment giants and Wall Street firms are competing for the plumbing behind digital assets. Stablecoins, tokenized assets and embedded crypto trading all need custody, compliance, liquidity routing, settlement tools, blockchain connectivity and regulated operating layers. Infrastructure providers can capture value even when the end user never sees their brand.
Mastercard has already been moving deeper into stablecoin payments through merchant settlement, wallet enablement and card-linked products. Its earlier stablecoin payment capabilities placed the company across wallet, merchant and settlement layers, while BVNK adds a direct acquisition route into the same payment stack.
Wall Street Demand Keeps The Infrastructure Trade Alive
Zerohash still has a strong institutional story without Mastercard. Morgan Stanley, Interactive Brokers, Stripe, BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, Franklin Templeton and DraftKings are among the firms tied to its infrastructure. The Morgan Stanley connection is especially important because E*Trade’s crypto trading rollout uses the Zerohash infrastructure path for BTC, ETH and SOL access.
That type of distribution can make infrastructure more valuable than pure trading volume. A brokerage, bank or payment company does not need to become a crypto-native exchange if it can embed regulated access through a backend provider. The model also gives traditional firms more control over user experience, compliance, fees and settlement while still participating in digital-asset demand.
The funding round now becomes a test of whether investors still want exposure to independent crypto infrastructure after Mastercard chose to buy BVNK instead. A valuation above $1.5 billion would signal that the market sees room for multiple winners across stablecoin payments, brokerage trading, tokenization and settlement rails.
Zerohash’s next raise will also show how investors value the middle layer of crypto adoption. Exchanges compete for retail flows, issuers compete for stablecoin supply, and asset managers compete for tokenized fund demand. Infrastructure companies sit underneath all three, making them acquisition targets, strategic partners and standalone funding candidates as traditional finance moves more activity onto digital rails.
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