‘Compliance Is The Engine Of Growth’: Inside Mercuryo’s Bid To Make Alternative Payment Rails As Ubiquitous As Visa And Mastercard
In Brief
Mercuryo CCO Ashna Vaghela on building enterprise trust in digital payments, why compliance unlocks global scale, and the future of cross-border payment infrastructure.
When Mercuryo landed at number 60 on Sifted’s Southern Europe 2026 fastest-growing startups leaderboard, it wasn’t just a ranking — it was a statement. The digital asset infrastructure company has spent years building the compliance-first payment rails that enterprise clients need to move money across borders, and the recognition signals something the broader market is beginning to catch up to: the speculative era of crypto is giving way to a serious transactional one.
At the center of that evolution is Ashna Vaghela, Mercuryo’s Chief Customer Officer. Responsible for institutional trust and client relationships at a company threading the needle between traditional finance and alternative payment networks, Vaghela is focused on one core challenge — proving that digital asset infrastructure can be just as reliable, regulated, and enterprise-ready as the card networks it sits alongside.
We sat down with her to talk about how Mercuryo is reshaping its market narrative, what enterprise clients are actually asking for, and why compliance isn’t a constraint on growth — it’s the engine of it.
Mercuryo recently ranked 60th on the Sifted 100 fastest-growing startups list. How are you using that external validation to evolve your market narrative?
Being placed 60th on the Sifted 100: Southern Europe 2026 Leaderboard is an incredible milestone for our team and provides strong external validation from a highly reputable organisation. Historically, companies operating in the digital token space were judged by mainstream media through retail trading spikes or speculative market hype. This recognition tells a completely different story to our enterprise clients, proving that our transaction volume and growth are driven by viable, sustainable payment architecture. Mercuryo is actively bridging the gap between traditional finance networks and alternative payment rails with long-term operational stability, and this accolade helps us position our brand firmly on the fintech side of the industry.
The digital asset sector has historically battled misconceptions around safety and trust. How is Mercuryo rewriting that perception for enterprise clients?
Trust is the single most critical asset in global payments, and the digital token sector has certainly faced its fair share of legacy challenges. My focus is to change that perception by demonstrating our commitment to structural compliance — actively protecting our reputation and corporate licences in every market we enter. We lead with transparency, and our goal is to prove that robust compliance safeguards are a core part of a premium user experience.
How has the digital asset space shifted from speculation to a functional transactional layer, and why is compliance the key to that evolution?
The early eras of this industry were defined by retail speculation and token volatility, but today we are seeing a profound shift toward corporate utility. Digital assets are evolving into a high-speed transactional layer that sits beneath modern fintech infrastructure, and our focus at Mercuryo is entirely dedicated to optimising that layer — specifically on-ramps, off-ramps, and corporate payment rails.
Expanding our licensing portfolio across key global jurisdictions is the foundation of this strategy. Without robust regulatory licences, you cannot safely collaborate with institutional networks. Compliance is the key that unlocks true corporate scale. Our rollout of the Mastercard Crypto Credential, for example, eliminates transfer errors across self-custody wallets by turning a complex process into a simple, username-based transaction. Similarly, our integration of Visa Direct allows users to off-ramp to payment cards in near real time — minutes rather than days. Strict compliance is the only path to converting alternative rails into mainstream corporate tools.
What are the biggest payment infrastructure friction points that clients are coming to Mercuryo to solve right now?
Businesses expanding internationally face a highly fragmented payment ecosystem. The biggest friction points are settlement speed, excessive cross-border transaction costs, and inconsistent regional regulatory requirements. Traditional banking rails can take days to settle international transfers and carry heavy intermediary fees.
Clients come to Mercuryo because they need a seamless interface that unites traditional cash flows with alternative digital rails. We provide a secure, compliant bridge that allows them to scale into new geographies without building payment infrastructure from scratch. Integrating native options like Apple Pay directly into alternative token ecosystems keeps checkouts completely frictionless, and by removing settlement delays, compliance worries, and checkout drop-offs, we help enterprises capture global market opportunities in real time.
The relationship between traditional financial institutions and fintech providers has shifted from competition to collaboration. What’s your vision for Mercuryo’s role in that landscape over the next few years?
Strategic partnerships are the engine of modern financial innovation. The old narrative of fintech startups trying to replace legacy banking is outdated — the most impactful growth today happens when agile infrastructure providers collaborate deeply with established card networks and traditional payment institutions. At Mercuryo, our relationships with major global networks are a vital validation of our technology stack, allowing us to scale our reach while giving traditional finance a secure entryway into alternative payment rails.
Looking ahead, our vision is to become the invisible backbone of international commerce — embedding our compliant transactional layer so deeply into fintechs that merchants and consumers can use alternative payment methods seamlessly. Mainstream adoption peaks when the underlying technology becomes completely transparent to the end user. Our goal is to continue expanding our compliant footprint globally, making alternative rails as reliable and ubiquitous as traditional card networks.
Disclaimer
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About The Author
Alisa, a dedicated journalist at the MPost, specializes in crypto, AI, investments, and the expansive realm of Web3. With a keen eye for emerging trends and technologies, she delivers comprehensive coverage to inform and engage readers in the ever-evolving landscape of digital finance.
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Alisa, a dedicated journalist at the MPost, specializes in crypto, AI, investments, and the expansive realm of Web3. With a keen eye for emerging trends and technologies, she delivers comprehensive coverage to inform and engage readers in the ever-evolving landscape of digital finance.
