Inside stablecoin firm BVNK’s journey to a $1.8B acquisition by Mastercard

BVNK, a stablecoin infrastructure firm, was recently acquired by Mastercard for $1.8 billion. This acquisition was the culmination of a long and secretive bidding process, in which several potential suitors, including Coinbase, Visa, and Coinbase, made bids. Concentric, an early investor in BVNK, played a crucial role in securing the deal for Mastercard.

The founders of BVNK, who were serial entrepreneurs from South Africa, had a strong valuation of $4 million when they first approached Concentric in 2018. Kjartan Rist, a founding partner of Concentric, shared his mixed emotions about the acquisition, describing it as "sad" to sign the papers but acknowledging BVNK's incredible journey under Concentric's guidance.

Mastercard's interest in BVNK stemmed from the growing importance of stablecoins in the payments industry and the pressure from competitors like Stripe to acquire stablecoin startups. During the bidding process, Coinbase emerged as the frontrunner, but the chemistry between BVNK and Mastercard was deemed a better fit. Visa also expressed interest in BVNK, but ultimately decided against pursuing an acquisition.

Despite the ongoing bear market in the crypto industry, stablecoins remain an area of importance for Traditional Finance (TradFi) institutions, with BVNK helping streamline treasury functions and providing solutions for companies with distributed, high-inflation workforces. Concentric is now looking for its next stablecoin investment opportunity.