BVNK provides stablecoin payments infrastructure that enables businesses to add stablecoin payments, such as USDC and USDT, to their offering or platforms without them needing to build the infrastructure and licensing themselves. The aim is for their technology to bridge traditional fiat systems with digital currencies.
Its offering is across managed and self-managed payments, embedded wallets, virtual accounts and Layer1 orchestration for liquidity and custody. Its licensed infrastructure includes VASP registration, EMI licenses and registered MSBs and MTLs. BVNK is focused on industries including fintech, trading, marketplaces, gaming, global payroll and digital assets. The company has also partnered with the likes of Circle and Visa.
Founded in 2021 and based out of London, the company has raised close to $100m in funding. In 2026, the company was acquired by Mastercard for $1.8bn
Deep regulatory changes such as the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) in the European Union, as well as the GENIUS Act in the United States offered a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring stablecoins to the mainstream and own the category leadership space.
Into this pivotal moment, and before its acquisition, BVNK sought to bring onboard an experienced fintech PR agency partner to move its brand visibility purely beyond trade media titles and into some of the most respected publications in the world. It wanted to position its executives as thought leaders as well as secure a higher share of voice in business media to reach enterprises considering adopting stablecoin payment rails, however the journalist relationships were yet to be developed with top-tiers.
It also needed a clear approach to instituting an overall press office function that could manage proactive news announcements, reports and podcast interviews, with more quick-turn rapid response PR that provided expert commentary opportunities.
BVNK was in an excellent position by boasting a very healthy and substantial news pipeline. This included a Cebr Report to tie in with the 10-year anniversary of stablecoins (an anniversary angle crafted by our team), partnerships (including with Circle) and product news. In addition, our team supported BVNK’s $50 million Series B funding round announcement.
Wise Up PR geared its pitching resources around these peak BVNK-owned moments, while also rolling out a briefings program with key mainstream media targets. The idea with briefings, in particular, was to introduce BVNK to hard-to-reach journalists, as a way to unlock future editorial opportunities and also position spokespeople as subject matter experts on the worldwide growth in stablecoins and more.
Outside of these core activities, the team at Wise Up PR also focused heavily on long-form interview opportunities in the form of podcasts, with BVNK’s spokespeople consistently being placed with highly-regarded podcasts.
Expert commentary on developments in regulatory environments, like MiCA in the European Union, was another approach zeroed in on by Wise Up PR as a way to crack top-tier outlets. We knew these were definitely topics on the radar of high-value media outlets and we used packaged, insight-led commentary content to generate not only interest and interviews but also coverage with mainstream business media.
124 Articles
Coverage secured in top fintech, crypto and financial services publications.
15.7 Million
Estimated audience that viewed the coverage generated.
59
Aggregate Domain Authority (DA) score of the publications which published.
917.5 Million
Combined audience that are unique monthly visitors (UMVs) to the media outlets that covered BVNK stories.
97,800
Coverage that was viewed via social posts accompanying media articles.
1,500
Organic social posts prompted by the launch media placements.
$1.8 Billion
In 2026, BVNK was acquired by Mastercard.
The strategic media outreach campaign run by Wise Up PR generated significant increased visibility for BVNK’s brand, particularly through top-tier placements with the likes of Bloomberg, Forbes and Fortune, as well as wider industry publications like CoinDesk. In total, Wise Up PR’s work secured 124 earned media placements, of which there were 15.7 million coverage views. When compared to the previous year, this performance was growth of 2,000% in terms of the number of articles published. BVNK was acquired by Mastercard in 2026 for $1.8 billion.
“We wanted a PR agency that could elevate BVNK into the biggest media publications in the world, a key aim at a time of accelerated growth for our company. Wise Up PR delivered what we needed and also provided ongoing and outstanding expert media relations counsel and strategy that helped achieve our PR campaign goal.”
If aiming for top-tier, mainstream media coverage, pitching a press release as your first outreach to key contacts is not likely to generate a media hit. This is for a very simple reason. These journalists are likely unaware of your brand, given you’ve never actively pitched them in the past. A brand’s relationship with media is built on trust; if they don’t know you, it is unlikely they will trust you.
Therefore, introductory briefings need to be a primary activity you undertake well ahead of pitching news into such contacts. This aims to put a face to a name for journalists by putting your spokespeople in front of them and outlining your company and its place in the wider industry. This is often a non-transactional activity; media coverage from one briefing isn’t a realistic expectation to have. Instead, this is a relationship-building activity aimed at unlocking future media opportunities and interest.
One of the best outcomes from a successful briefing is when a journalist will follow up with you in the weeks following your meeting to request comment or insight on a story they are working on. This validates the entire briefings program, especially if it is a top-tier journalist making the request for input. If you can deliver what they need for this first story, it can often lead to an open communication channel, whereby they will periodically follow up, the perfect scenario for a brand trying to crack mainstream business media.
Fintech and the wider stablecoins and crypto industry are home to a host of reputable and well-followed podcasts. This specific channel offers your brand a great opportunity to boost your company’s profile as well as your spokespeople. Unlike digital news articles, podcasts offer your Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) time and space to discuss your company in a friendly environment that is also long-form. Podcasts can also be hyper-niche, meaning if you target the right one, you’ll reach an audience that is potentially beyond traditional media.
Stablecoins and crypto are increasingly coming under regulatory scrutiny, such as with the Genius Act. Changes to regulatory frameworks offer a unique chance to speak to media. This is because journalists are often on the lookout for smart, expert spokespeople who can explain what such changes mean for their industry. This can take the form of expert commentary issued to a tight target list of journalists or offering a spokesperson for an interview to discuss pending legislative changes in detail.
