American multinational financial services Mastercard will allow transactions of select cryptocurrencies directly through their network before the end of 2021. Last year, the company had partnered with Wirex and BitPay to create crypto cards that allow people to transact using their cryptocurrencies.
“We are preparing right now for the future of crypto and payments, announcing that this year Mastercard will start supporting select cryptocurrencies directly on our network. This is a big change that will require a lot of work. We will be very thoughtful about which assets we support based on our principles for digital currencies, which focus on consumer protections and compliance,” stated Raj Dhamodharan, EVP Blockchain / Digital Asset Products & Digital Partnerships at Mastercard in a blog.
The blog highlighted the fact that not all of today’s cryptocurrencies will be supported on its network. It stated, “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. We expect consumers and the ecosystem as a whole will start to rally around the crypto assets that offer reliability and security.”
Commenting about association with Wirex and BitPay, Dhamodharan stressed, “We added to those partnerships this year by joining forces with LVL, an up-and-coming cryptocurrency exchange. These relationships — with many more planned in the pipeline — build on our many years of crypto collaborations.”
Mastercard is actively engaging with several major central banks around the world, the blog stated. “Last year, we created a test platform for these banks to use these currencies in a simulated environment. Using our deep experience in payments technologies, we look forward to continuing these partnerships with governments and helping them explore the best ways to develop these new currencies,” revealed Dhamodharan.
With 89 blockchain patents granted globally with an additional 285 blockchain applications pending worldwide, Mastercard already has one of the payments industry’s biggest blockchain patent portfolios to draw from to make these projects successful, the blog said.
