The payments giant Mastercard believes that crypto assets have the potential to revolutionize the financial infrastructure and has outlined five areas of focus that could aid in “turn crypto assets into a regular payment method.”
To achieve this, we have to blend the best of technology, fintech, banking, and crypto. Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president of Digital Asset and Blockchain Products at Mastercard, stated in a blog.
Dhamodharan further added that “someday very soon,” we will be able to make cryptocurrency payments in the same way as card transactions made with contactless technology; however, it will require advancements in, at a minimum, five significant areas.
In the beginning, there is a need for crypto-based cards, which will serve as an intermediary between financial services and the cryptocurrency market. Mastercard stated that they’d launched various crypto card programs, the most well-known being the collaboration with Gemini to create a credit card that will pay dividends in cryptocurrency for US customers.
In addition, the rival to Mastercard Visa has also introduced a variety of crypto-linked credit card offerings in the first quarter of this year. Last week, Visa joined forces with FTX to provide cryptocurrency debit cards in 40 countries, focusing specifically on Europe, Latin America, and Asia.
Additionally, Mastercard further said that there needs to be a variety of service providers for crypto businesses. They have widened their consulting offerings to encompass crypto “to assist card issuers in staying within the rules and to assess the risks associated with the crypto transaction.”
The third central area is making it easier for customers to convert their crypto to fiat currency to pay. Businesses can accomplish this by partnering with top crypto-focused firms like Paxos and Circle.
The fourth noteworthy aspect is to include a few cryptos in their network. “An important step to increase choices for consumers is to allow certain Digital assets that are MasterCard-approved on our networks. It was an initiative we unveiled last year,”
Finally, Dhamodharan mentioned the importance of NFTs and the metaverse for a better user experience. He also said that the payment giant is working to establish alliances to promote NFTs and the metaverse.
Since January of this year, Mastercard partnered with Coinbase to make buying NFTs as easy “as purchasing a T-shirt or coffee pods from an online website.” The company is working on bringing the same features to eight NFT marketplaces.
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