Mastercard, Visa, Bloomberg & X Lead Crypto Partnerships In March’s First Week
In Brief
The first week of March wasn’t about token launches or price swings. It was about infrastructure.
The first week of March wasn’t about token launches or price swings. It was about infrastructure. Major players across payments, compliance, media, and immersive tech moved quietly but decisively, forming partnerships that tighten crypto’s links with traditional finance and real-world utility. The convergence is no longer theoretical. It’s operational.
Mastercard and MetaMask Debut Spending Crypto Card in New York
MetaMask is officially bringing crypto spending closer to everyday life in the US.
Self-custodial wallet MetaMask has launched its Mastercard-enabled payment card nationwide, marking its first-ever availability in New York. Parent company Consensys confirmed the rollout follows pilot programs in 2024 and 2025, with the card now accessible in 49 states, Vermont being the only exception.
The new card runs on the global network of Mastercard and is issued by Cross River Bank, in partnership with regulated issuer Monavate. It works at roughly 150 million merchants worldwide and integrates with Apple Pay and Google Pay.
What sets the MetaMask Card apart is its “fully self-custodial” design. Unlike traditional crypto debit cards that require users to preload funds onto centralized exchanges, this one allows users to retain control of their assets in their wallet until the moment of purchase.
Alongside the standard version, MetaMask is introducing a $199-per-year premium Metal Card.
The move strengthens Mastercard’s crypto push, following deeper collaborations with firms like Circle as it works to bring stablecoins into the financial mainstream.
X Offers Paid Crypto Promotion with Tighter Policies
X is reopening the door to crypto promotion, but with tighter guardrails.
Under its updated paid partnership policy, influencers can now publish sponsored crypto content, provided they comply with disclosure rules and all relevant advertising and financial promotion laws. The move marks a shift from the platform’s stricter 2024 stance, when the entire Financial Products category was pushed into “Prohibited” status to curb undisclosed endorsements and aggressive token shilling.
Still, the feature won’t be available everywhere. Regions with tougher crypto advertising frameworks, including the EU, UK and Australia, emain excluded. The decision follows increased scrutiny from regulators like the UK’s advertising watchdog, which recently banned a campaign by Coinbase for downplaying risks. Australian authorities have also taken action in similar cases, even pursuing legal challenges against Meta over misleading crypto ads.
X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, suggested the update is designed to help creators grow their businesses while staying transparent with followers.
The change aligns with X’s broader expansion strategy, including upcoming products like X Money and X TV, part of Elon Musk’s ambition to build an “everything app.” The platform has also partnered with Visa to power in-app transactions and is preparing “Smart Cashtags,” offering real-time asset pricing directly in timelines.
Visa and Bridge to Offer Stablecoin-Backed Cards in Over 100 Countries
Visa is doubling down on stablecoins, expanding its card partnership with Bridge, a crypto startup acquired by Stripe in 2025, to more than 100 countries across Europe, Asia and Africa.
The move builds on an earlier Latin America rollout and pushes the total live markets to 18 so far. The stablecoin-backed cards allow users to spend balances held in crypto wallets at any merchant that accepts Visa. Startups like Phantom can issue their own branded debit cards through Bridge, while Visa powers the payments infrastructure behind the scenes.
Visa’s head of crypto, Cuy Sheffield, suggested that any serious stablecoin wallet needs a card connection to make funds usable in the “real world.” The expansion challenges the narrative that stablecoins threaten legacy giants like Visa or Mastercard. Instead of replacing card networks, fintechs appear to be integrating with them.
Another player, Rain, is also issuing Visa-linked stablecoin cards after raising $250 million at nearly a $2 billion valuation.
Bridge CEO Zach Abrams argued that Visa’s decades-old merchant network remains “extremely valuable,” though he acknowledged stablecoins could reshape emerging areas like agentic commerce, where AI agents transact autonomously.
Bridge will also join Visa’s pilot exploring on-chain stablecoin settlement alongside firms like Worldpay and Nuvei.
Bloomberg Teams Up with Kaiko for On-Chain Financial Data and Tokenized Markets
Bloomberg is taking a major step into tokenized finance through a new partnership with blockchain data provider Kaiko, aiming to bring licensed financial data directly on-chain.
The collaboration targets a core weakness in tokenized markets: fragmented data. Today, tokenized assets like Treasurys often rely on multiple off-chain sources for pricing, identifiers and corporate action details. That siloed structure increases operational risk, creates valuation mismatches and makes reconciliation costly and error-prone.
By embedding Bloomberg’s trusted data, including real-time price feeds, standardized identifiers like ISINs and CUSIPs, and key reference information such as dividend schedules, directly into blockchain infrastructure, the partnership establishes a single “source of truth.” All participants in a transaction, from issuers to regulators, can rely on the same immutable dataset, reducing disputes and automating compliance processes.
Technically, Kaiko is expected to stream Bloomberg’s feeds onto oracle networks, enabling smart contracts and decentralized applications to access verified institutional-grade data.
Analysts view the decision as establishing essential infrastructure which enables the future growth of tokenized markets. The integration of blockchain technology by traditional data giants such as S&P Global and Moody’s demonstrates an increasing connection between traditional finance and on-chain systems.
AscendEX and ELLIPAL to Unveil Next-Gen Crypto Security Models
AscendEX has formed a partnership with ELLIPAL the hardware wallet provider to enhance its security systems which will provide advanced asset protection solutions for cryptocurrency traders.
The collaboration occurs during a period when cyber threats and phishing attacks have reached advanced levels of complexity, which forces both retail and professional users to adopt non-custodial solutions. ELLIPAL and AscendEX will join their businesses through a partnership which enables active trading operations to use ELLIPAL’s air-gapped wallet technology with AscendEX’s trading system.
ELLIPAL is known for its fully “air-gapped” design, meaning private keys never connect directly to the internet. Transactions are signed offline, significantly reducing exposure to hacking attempts or malicious links. This approach ensures users retain control of their assets while minimizing attack surfaces, a key concern in today’s increasingly complex crypto environment.
The move by AscendEX shows that the company wants to establish institutional-grade security measures across its operations. The platform allows users to manage their assets through better security measures than exchange custody while they continue to use the platform’s trading features.
The industry shows a trend where exchanges combine their liquidity pools with self-custody security solutions. The security features of a system now determine how much users trust it, which will influence the way traders use digital assets in the future through this type of system integration.
Skonec Entertainment and Fancii Partner to Reshape Immersive Content
Skonec Entertainment has entered a strategic alliance with Tikrimi, operator of the Fancii platform, in a move aimed at merging crypto-powered AI with extended reality (XR).
Announced in Seoul on March 21, 2025, the partnership focuses on building immersive digital experiences that combine blockchain infrastructure, artificial intelligence and XR technologies such as VR, AR and mixed reality. Analysts see the deal as a potential boost for South Korea’s positioning in the global Web3 and metaverse race.
Under the agreement, Skonec will lead XR content creation, platform operations and global distribution. Tikrimi, through Fancii, will develop the underlying crypto AI systems, including data analytics, algorithm design, AI-driven service models and blockchain-based tokenomics.
The partnership will implement its operational plan through multiple development stages which will start with a combined task force and pilot initiative before expanding into commercial operations. The initial applications of virtual reality technology will include AI-driven virtual concerts that offer tokenized VIP access and corporate training simulations which use on-chain certification storage.
The organization wants to develop a complete system which uses blockchain technology to verify ownership rights and artificial intelligence for customized user experiences and extended reality to provide complete virtual environments. The partnership will develop new immersive content through better market delivery times, which will create a competitive advantage in the growing field of immersive technology.
TRM Labs and Finray Technologies Introduce Advanced Monitoring for Banks and Payments Providers
TRM Labs has partnered with Finray Technologies to embed crypto risk monitoring directly into banking and payments infrastructure, aiming to unify digital-asset and fiat compliance under one system.
The integration connects TRM’s blockchain analytics tools, including transaction monitoring and wallet screening, with Finray’s XZiel compliance engine via API. The result is a single operational environment where institutions can assess on-chain and traditional financial risks in real time, without relying on separate systems.
The current moment matches the period when Europe imposes stricter regulations through MiCA and its associated supervisory guidelines, which require continuous monitoring of both cryptocurrency and traditional currency systems. The system provides real-time alert triage and automated escalation together with unified case management through its capability to integrate blockchain risk signals into established compliance processes.
Institutions gain visibility into counterparty exposure, indirect wallet risk and stablecoin flows across major networks like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tron. Every alert, decision and risk rationale is logged in a fully auditable trail, supporting regulatory reviews and suspicious activity reports.
TRM’s partnerships lead said institutions need “actionable intelligence” that withstands regulatory scrutiny, while Finray’s CEO stressed that managing crypto and fiat risk in separate silos is no longer viable.
The offering targets banks, fintechs and MiCA-authorized crypto firms seeking scalable, regulator-ready infrastructure.
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About The Author
Alisa, a dedicated journalist at the MPost, specializes in cryptocurrency, zero-knowledge proofs, 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 cryptocurrency, zero-knowledge proofs, 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.
