Mastercard will sponsor an upcoming $XRP Ledger hackathon in New York, bringing major payments expertise into the developer event. The 36-hour competition will run October 24–25, shortly before Ripple’s annual Swell conference. Developers will build projects that explore new applications for the $XRP Ledger across several financial use cases.
Developers Target New Financial Applications
The hackathon will feature four tracks covering protocol innovation, agentic finance, lending, and borrowing. Further, teams having an existing product can add $XRP Ledger elements to their projects.
Mastercard’s participation could provide developers with greater access to real-world payment systems. In addition, the company’s growing strategy toward the blockchain opens the door to projects related to stablecoin settlements and tokenized assets.
Mastercard is deepening Ripple Connection
The partnership between Mastercard and Ripple has grown with various blockchain projects. In 2025, Ripple entered into a partnership with Mastercard, WebBank, and Gemini regarding its stablecoin RLUSD.
Significantly, Mastercard announced in June that its network would support regulated stablecoin settlement. The company included the $XRP Ledger among supported blockchain networks.
Furthermore, Ripple joined Mastercard’s CBDC Partner Program in 2023. In May, both companies participated in an $XRP Ledger pilot involving Ondo Finance’s tokenized US Treasury fund.
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