Mastercard simplifies card offering for crypto
Mastercard today announced that it would be simplifying the card offering that it provides for crypto companies making it easier for the users to be able to convert fiat to crypto.
For this purpose, it would be tying up with Circle, which operates the USDC stablecoin, and Evolve Bank & Trust and Paxos Trust Company and the partners would be testing out this solution so that they can offer this new capability to other banks and financial firms so that they can supply this card product to their users as well.
Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president of digital asset and blockchain products & partnerships at Mastercard, commented: “Today not all crypto companies have the foundational infrastructure to convert cryptocurrency to traditional fiat currency, and we’re making it easier. Through our engagement with Evolve, Paxos, Circle, and the larger digital assets community, Mastercard expects to deliver on our promise of consumer choice to provide options to people around the world on how and when to pay.”
Currently, the crypto companies that allow the users to use the Mastercard have to settle the payment in fiat currency only as far as the Mastercard network is concerned. In February of this year, Mastercard had announced that it would add the technology so that the settlement can happen in stablecoins which would in turn help in the settlement of digital assets and payments. This announcement is a huge boost for the crypto industry and especially for Circle and USDC as it is likely to increase the USDC circulation manifold.
What we are seeing in the crypto industry of late is the reducing importance of bitcoin and the rise of stablecoins. Though stablecoins have been around for quite some time, it is only now that more and more users are beginning to realize that more than bitcoin, stablecoins are the ones that can be easily used for payments and hence can be easily used for settlements and cross border remittances as well.
This is especially the case now as more companies and financial firms enter the space and realize that stablecoins could be the key to the growth of the digital asset industry. So far, bitcoin has not proved itself to be usable for payments mainly because it is highly volatile and the stablecoins solve that problem for now. The move of digital assets to the card industry is likely to be seen in the future as another milestone in the growth of the crypto industry.
