Mastercard is reportedly considering a strategic investment in regulated crypto infrastructure firm Zerohash, signaling a deeper commitment to embedding digital assets into core financial systems. While earlier acquisition talks valued at up to $2 billion did not materialize, the shift toward a minority stake represents a long-term alignment. Zerohash supports institutional clients like Interactive Brokers, Stripe, Franklin Templeton, and products linked to BlackRock, serving over 5 million users across 190 countries.
This move is part of Mastercard's expanding crypto footprint, which includes a partnership with Kraken enabling crypto spending at over 150 million merchants, ongoing work with stablecoins and tokenized assets, and integration with regulated providers. The company's focus on infrastructure—custody, settlement, and fiat ramps—offers exposure to digital asset flows without direct balance-sheet risk tied to token prices.
Concurrently, investment firm ARK Invest has published its latest report, forecasting robust growth for Bitcoin and the broader digital asset market through 2030. The report argues Bitcoin is central to a new asset class and exhibited lower volatility in 2025 compared to past cycles, strengthening its "safe haven" role as a maturing asset.
ARK Invest's updated projections are significant. The firm's 2030 market capitalization forecast for Bitcoin remains largely unchanged, but key assumptions have been updated. The total addressable market (TAM) in the "digital gold" narrative was revised upward by 37%, following a 64.5% increase in gold's market capitalization by 2025. However, the adoption rate of Bitcoin as a "safe haven" in emerging markets was reduced by approximately 80% due to rapid growth in stablecoin usage.
The report projects that the "digital gold" factor alone could contribute up to $14.6 trillion to Bitcoin's market capitalization in a bull scenario. ARK Invest forecasts the entire digital asset market could reach $28 trillion by 2030, with an estimated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 61%. Bitcoin is expected to dominate roughly 70% of this total, implying its market cap could grow from about $2 trillion to nearly $16 trillion in the next five years, with a CAGR of about 63%.
The remaining 30% of the market is projected to consist of smart contract platforms like Ethereum and Solana, with their total market capitalization expected to reach $6 trillion by 2030, growing at a 54% annual rate.
