March 17 (Reuters) - Mastercard ( MA ) said on Tuesday it would buy stablecoin payments infrastructure firm BVNK for up to $1.8 billion.

The acquisition underscores Mastercard's ( MA ) strategy to expand beyond traditional card networks and position itself at the center of emerging digital asset ecosystems, including stablecoins.

"We expect that most financial institutions and fintechs will, in time, provide digital currency services," said Jorn Lambert, Mastercard's ( MA ) chief product officer.

BVNK, founded in 2021, specializes in infrastructure to bridge between fiat and stablecoins. The platform enables sending and receiving payments on all major blockchain networks across more than 130 countries.

The deal includes $300 million in contingent payments, and is expected to close before the end of 2026.

(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil and Prakhar Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)