MasterCard Set to Get on the Cryptocurrency Bandwagon in 2021

MasterCard’s almost billion users worldwide will be able to use digital cryptocurrencies for payment to 30 million sellers. The company believes this may introduce new options for both merchants and customers and build trust with customers already using cryptocurrencies.

The giant announced it wants to give its users more options and to enable them to access digital value. They stated the deal is about providing choice to their users and enabling merchants and businesses to trade digital worth.

Which Cryptocurrencies Will MasterCard Implement in Its Network?

No particular coins have been named as of yet. However, MasterCard has shared criteria by which it will determine which currencies it will support: stability as a means of payment, rigorous customer identification processes, full compliance with local law and regulations, efficient consumer protection, as well as privacy and security.

“We strongly believe that for digital currencies to become trusted payment instruments for consumers or businesses, it is essential that they offer stability, regulatory compliance and consumer protections,” said the company in a statement.

In 2020, the company launched a central bank digital currency testing environment in order to show how CBDCs can be issued, distributed, and exchanged between banks, financial service providers, and consumers using MasterCard’s infrastructure.

The firm’s announcement also noted an increase in demand for cryptocurrencies by its customers and that many have been buying digital assets during the current booming market.

MasterCard is also negotiating with major banks around the world about the support of central bank digital currency enterprises.

A significant investment was already made into the research of distributed ledger technology. The company currently owns 89 blockchain patents and another 285 applications are pending approval.

In the past, the provider partnered with Wirex and BitPay on crypto cards but no cryptocurrency was used with MasterCard’s network.

More and More Companies Are Finally Adopting Cryptocurrency

Recently, other large players like Visa, PayPal, and Tesla have also announced they would be joining the crypto asset ecosystem. Tesla has purchased $1.5 billion Bitcoin and will soon accept Bitcoin payments for its cars.

Prior to that, PayPal declared it will now fully support crypto payments for its 26 million merchants after the success of their limited crypto services.

Visa has also announced plans to implement a trial program of application programming interfaces (APIs) that will allow banks to offer their customers a variety of Bitcoin-based services.

The FinTech industry is now buzzing with questions about who will follow next into the crypto ecosystem with RBC analyst Mitch Steves arguing that designing a crypto exchange service for the Apple Wallet would elicit potential for growth.