Evercore ISI sees MasterCard’s BVNK deal as ‘offensive and defensive’ move

Evercore ISI notes that while widely speculated with a few different suitors, MasterCard (MA) is buying BVNK, which not only bolsters its near-term capabilities in this ecosystem but also offers longer-term optionality to drive interoperability between traditional rails and next generation blockchain settlement capabilities. The firm views this as both an offensive and defensive acquisition, and one that should mitigate some of investors’ concerns around the legacy rails being disintermediated. While more time will be needed to fully disprove that negative thesis, today’s announcement bridges that gap materially, Evercore adds. The firm has an In Line rating on MasterCard with a price target of $610 on the shares.