OLB stock soars after announcing Mastercard Bitcoin payments

OLB Group has readied Mastercard Bitcoin payments processing in a move to help small- and mid-sized merchants address the growing demand for payments in digital assets.

Merchants can activate Mastercard cryptocurrency transaction processing via OLB’s OmniSoft business management platform and the company’s SecurePay Payment Gateway Platform, a Mastercard SDP program.

OLB supports the processing of multiple cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDC, and DAI across all merchant platforms.

The gateway provides traditional credit and debit card processing, digital wallet services such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, and crypto commerce functions such as conversion to fiat currencies, as well as end-to-end cryptocurrency transactions.

Ronny Yakov, chief executive officer for the OLB Group, said: “The recent announcement from Mastercard that it is supporting cryptocurrency should accelerate public acceptance of Bitcoin and other currencies for conducting everyday business. We have enabled crypto commerce throughout our OmniSoft and SecurePay portfolio which enables merchants to offer a broad choice of payment options that match customer’s expectations.”

OLB’s Omnisoft point-of-sale (POS) options for online, mobile, and in-store provides connectivity to some of the largest cryptocurrency wallets, including MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, Crypto.com, and Trust Wallets.

The stock price of OLB surged nearly 90% since the firm announced Mastercard Bitcoin payments capabilities.

In late October, Mastercard announced a partnership with Intercontinental Exchange’s subsidiary Bakkt to make it easier for merchants, banks and fintechs in the U.S. to embrace and offer a broad set of cryptocurrency solutions and services.

Mastercard partners will be able to offer cryptocurrency solutions, including the ability for consumers to buy, sell and hold digital assets through custodial wallets powered by the Bakkt platform and streamlined issuance of branded crypto debit and credit cards.

Mastercard will also integrate crypto into its loyalty solutions, enabling its partners to offer cryptocurrency as rewards and create fungibility between loyalty points and other digital assets.

Consumers continue to seek out crypto assets as an option for everyday purchases. In the Bakkt U.S. Consumer Crypto Survey of 2,000 U.S. consumers, nearly half (48%) of respondents reported purchasing crypto in the first half of 2021, while 32% of those who didn’t are either very or somewhat interested in doing so before year-end.

And, according to the Mastercard New Payments Index, 77% of millennials stated that they are interested in learning more about cryptocurrency, with 75% saying that they would use cryptocurrency if they understood it better.

Bakkt publicly listed on the NYSE under the ticker BKKT on October 18, 2021. Mastercard continues to invest in the digital asset space through several initiatives such as acquiring CipherTrace and supporting the development of central bank digital currencies.