Mastercard to Bring ‘Select Cryptocurrencies’ to its Network Later This Year

Mastercard plans to allow its merchants to receive and settle transactions with digital assets this year, it said in a blog post late Wednesday. Mastercard currently issues cards to digital asset companies that allow their customers to spend crypto, but the […]

article-image

Source: Shutterstock

share

key takeaways

  • The card giant said it will support certain digital assets for settlement on its network later this year
  • This comes as Tesla plans to accept bitcoin for payment and Amazon prepares to launch a digital currency for retail in emerging markets

Mastercard plans to allow its merchants to receive and settle transactions with digital assets this year, it said in a blog post late Wednesday.

Mastercard currently issues cards to digital asset companies that allow their customers to spend crypto, but the settlement is still done in fiat currency. Along the way there’s still an intermediary to process the transaction and convert currencies. Mastercard’s proposal would be a dramatic change, allowing for settlement of the transaction in digital assets. 

“Our philosophy on cryptocurrencies is straightforward,” said Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president for digital asset and blockchain products, in the blog post. “It’s about choice. Mastercard isn’t here to recommend you start using cryptocurrencies. But we are here to enable customers, merchants and businesses to move digital value.”

The announcement came days after competitor Visa revealed an API that lets banks to offer digital assets to their customers, and electric vehicle giant Tesla said it could begin accepting bitcoin as payment,

Mastercard has 89 blockchain patents granted globally, and an additional 285 pending. 

Dhamodharan said it will be “very thoughtful” about what digital assets it supports on its network emphasizing the need for consumer protections and regulatory compliance. 

“To be completely clear, not all of today’s cryptocurrencies will be supported on our network. While stablecoins are more regulated and reliable than in the recent past, many of the hundreds of digital assets in circulation still need to tighten their compliance measures, so they won’t meet our requirements,” he said.

All this comes as Amazon, which generates approximately $300 billion in revenue from retail every year, kicks off efforts to integrate digital currencies in Mexico and emerging markets. According to a job post its hiring a software development manager to “help us launch a new payment product” that will enable its customers to on-ramp their cash into digital currency to pay for its products and services.

It’s not yet clear if this will be a ‘walled garden’ digital currency like Facebook proposed with Diem or some sort of publicly tradable digital asset that would work with other platforms like Mastercard’s settlement network.  

Tags

Upcoming Events

Hilton Metropole | 225 Edgware Rd, London

MON - WED, MARCH 18 - 20, 2024

Crypto’s premier institutional conference returns to London in March 2024. The DAS: London Experience:  Attend expert-led panel discussions and fireside chats  Hear the latest developments regarding the crypto and digital asset regulatory environment directly from policymakers and experts   Grow your network […]

Salt Lake City, UT

WED - FRI, OCTOBER 9 - 11, 2024

Pack your bags, anon — we’re heading west! Join us in the beautiful Salt Lake City for the third installment of Permissionless. Come for the alpha, stay for the fresh air. Permissionless III promises unforgettable panels, killer networking opportunities, and mountains […]

recent research

logo.jpeg

Research

Akash is a general-purpose compute platform with GPUs, storage, LLM training or inference, and validator hosting through its two-sided marketplace.

article-image

A proposed fund would use a “synthetic covered call strategy” to offer indirect exposure to the share price of the largest publicly traded holder of bitcoin

article-image

Bankman-Fried jotted down a balance sheet one day before FTX declared bankruptcy

article-image

The SEC is mulling over 13 bitcoin ETF proposals that are continuously being updated ahead of expected rulings next month

article-image

Details on the 2024 airdrop are coming into focus

article-image

Changpeng Zhao may be using his time in the US to meet with founders, according to posts on X

article-image

The token will be used to govern the DAO — and possibly to rouse activity in Solana DeFi