Mastercard calls five key areas to work with cryptocurrencies

What’s new? Mastercard, a payment company, has called five key areas for working with digital assets. The firm plans to turn cryptocurrencies into “an everyday way to pay.” Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president of Digital Asset and Blockchain Products & Digital Partnerships at Mastercard, explained that virtual currencies and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) have the potential to transform the financial system’s infrastructure. He added that non-fungible tokens (NFTs), blockchain games, and metaverses “could change how consumers shop and communicate.”

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More details about crypto areas. Dhamodharan called cryptocurrency cards the first area Mastercard is working on. He said that the company has already announced dozens of new crypto card programs around the world this year. For example, in the US, the payment company worked with the Gemini exchange to develop a credit card that pays rewards in cryptocurrencies. In Argentina, Mastercard launched a debit card with Binance. In Europe, the company in partnership with hi, a crypto financial app, will launch debit cards that can be customized with NFTs.

The second area is services for cryptocurrencies. Dhamodharan noted that “Mastercard is a provider of cybersecurity, digital ID, advisory and open banking services to tens of thousands of financial institutions.” He added that the company intends to use the same tools “to provide more support to crypto players and issuers.” In October, Mastercard unveiled its Crypto Secure software that will help banking institutions identify and reject transactions from cryptocurrency exchanges if they involve fraudulent activity.

The third area is crypto payments. Dhamodharan spoke about Mastercard’s collaboration with leading crypto companies such as Paxos, Circle, Evolve, and Uphold. With their support, the company plans to develop ways to quickly convert digital assets into fiat for payments.

Dhamodharan said that the fourth area focuses on cryptocurrencies in Mastercard’s networks:

“An important way to expand choice for people is to bring certain Mastercard-approved digital assets onto our networks, a plan we announced last year that continues to move forward.”

The fifth area concerns metaverses and NFTs. Mastercard is working to expand partnerships to support non-fungible tokens and virtual worlds, Dhamodharan explained. For example, Coinbase users can pay for NFTs with Mastercard.

Dhamodharan concluded by noting that Mastercard already operates “a trusted global network that enables payments with a single tap or click.” In his view, this is what the crypto economy needs to support the next million or billion users.

In August, Mastercard Chief Financial Officer Sachin Mehra said that cryptocurrency is not a means of payment. In his opinion, stablecoins and CBDCs are more suitable as a medium of exchange.