The payment giant announced November 18, 2025, it will work with crypto firm Mercuryo to replace long wallet addresses with human-readable aliases, making digital asset transfers as simple as sending money through popular apps.
The initiative expands Mastercard’s Crypto Credential program to self-custody wallets, where users control their private keys. Instead of copying and pasting complex hexadecimal strings that can span dozens of characters, users will send crypto using simple aliases tied to verified identities.
How the Username System Works
The new system involves three key partners working together. Mastercard provides the verification framework, Polygon offers the blockchain infrastructure, and Mercuryo handles user identity checks.
Users first complete identity verification with Mercuryo through standard know-your-customer procedures. This includes uploading government identification documents and taking verification photos. Once approved, users receive a unique alias they can link to their self-custody wallet.
The system also allows users to request a special token on Polygon’s network that proves their wallet belongs to a verified person. This token helps apps and services recognize that the wallet supports verified transfers and meets compliance requirements.
Source: @0xPolygon
When someone wants to send crypto, they simply use the recipient’s alias instead of their full wallet address. The system automatically routes the transaction to the correct wallet while maintaining all security features of blockchain networks.
Why Mastercard Chose Polygon
Polygon beat other blockchain networks for several technical reasons. The network can process over 1,000 transactions per second with minimal fees. Recent upgrades have achieved sub-five-second transaction finality, making it faster than many traditional payment systems.
Recent upgrades have made Polygon even more reliable for financial services. The Rio upgrade eliminated reorganization risks that could reverse transactions and introduced stateless validation, making it easier and cheaper for companies to run blockchain nodes. The Heimdall v2 consensus upgrade further enhanced throughput capacity.
Polygon already handles billions of dollars in stablecoin transfers monthly. Major payment companies and digital banks rely on the network because it can handle high transaction volumes without slowing down or becoming expensive.
“Polygon’s architecture ensures transfers are final, fast, and cost-efficient, enabling credential verification flows to scale globally,” according to Mastercard’s announcement.
Solving Real User Problems
Long wallet addresses create serious problems for crypto adoption. A typical Ethereum address contains 42 characters mixing numbers and letters. Users must copy these addresses perfectly – one wrong character sends money to the wrong place with no way to reverse the transaction.
This complexity scares away newcomers and causes errors even for experienced users. Many people send small test transactions before larger transfers to make sure they copied addresses correctly. Others avoid self-custody wallets entirely, preferring exchanges that handle addresses automatically.
The username system removes these barriers while keeping all benefits of self-custody wallets. Users maintain complete control of their private keys and funds while gaining a familiar experience similar to Venmo or Cash App.
“By streamlining wallet addresses and adding meaningful verification, Mastercard Crypto Credential is building trust in digital token transfers,” said Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercard’s executive vice president of blockchain and digital assets.
Mastercard’s Growing Crypto Strategy
This partnership represents the latest step in Mastercard’s expanding cryptocurrency efforts. The company has accelerated its blockchain strategy throughout 2024 and 2025 with several major initiatives.
In June, Mastercard partnered with Chainlink to let its three billion cardholders buy crypto directly on blockchain networks. The system uses account abstraction technology to make onchain purchases feel familiar to traditional card users.
The company also launched crypto debit cards with Kraken across Europe and partnered with MetaMask on a self-custody payments card. These moves show Mastercard’s commitment to bridging traditional finance with decentralized systems. Reports also suggest Mastercard may acquire cryptocurrency startup ZeroHash for $2 billion, though this remains unconfirmed.
Previous versions of Crypto Credential already work on exchanges including Bit2Me, Lirium, and Mercado Bitcoin. Users in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and Uruguay can send cross-border and domestic transfers across multiple currencies and blockchains using aliases.
Industry Impact and Future Plans
The verified username system addresses broader trends in the crypto industry. Self-custody adoption has grown significantly since major exchange failures in 2022 and 2023 showed risks of keeping funds with third parties.
However, user experience remains a major barrier. Complex addresses, gas fees, and technical requirements prevent mainstream adoption of self-custody tools. Username systems like Mastercard’s could help bridge this gap.
Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs, called the partnership “the moment when self-custody becomes simple.” He added that successful blockchain adoption happens when the technology becomes “invisible” to end users.
The system currently supports receiving crypto through aliases, with sending functionality planned for the near future. Mastercard expects the program to expand beyond individual transfers to include business payments, NFTs, and other blockchain applications.
Other companies have tried similar approaches. Unstoppable Domains offers blockchain domain names that replace addresses with readable names. However, Mastercard’s system adds identity verification and works across multiple wallets and applications.
The Road to Mainstream Adoption
The partnership reflects growing institutional interest in blockchain payments infrastructure. Traditional financial companies increasingly view public blockchains as viable alternatives to existing payment rails.
For Polygon, landing Mastercard validates its strategy of focusing on payments and enterprise use cases. The network has positioned itself as infrastructure for mainstream financial applications rather than just decentralized finance protocols.
Mercuryo benefits by becoming the first issuer in Mastercard’s expanded program. “We are proud to be Mastercard’s first partner to launch Mastercard Crypto Credential across their non-custodial wallet partner network,” said Petr Kozyakov, Mercuryo’s co-founder and CEO. The crypto payments company will likely gain access to Mastercard’s massive user base and global reach.
Mastercard plans to roll out the program gradually, starting with select users before expanding to broader availability. The company expects wider adoption over the coming months as more wallets and applications integrate the technology.
A Bridge Between Two Worlds
Mastercard’s username system represents a practical solution to one of crypto’s biggest usability problems. By combining familiar payment experiences with self-custody benefits, the partnership could help bring blockchain technology to mainstream users who currently find it too complex or risky.