A top executive at credit card giant Mastercard says that the firm is working on unlocking the full potential of crypto assets.
In a new company blog post, Mastercard’s head of crypto and blockchain Raj Dhamodharan says that the company plans to make good on the much-anticipated expectation of crypto assets being viable methods of payment.
According to Dhamodharan, the key to success in this regard is bringing together the various financial services industries.
“To unlock the potential [of digital assets], we need to bring together the best of tech, banking, fintech and crypto. This will create a variety of new services and make the movement of money speedier, simpler and cheaper.
The long-sought promise of making crypto a payment tool could be achieved. These collaborations could also help the crypto ecosystem improve safety for its users, weather future market turmoil and reach greater mainstream adoption.
Someday soon, the ability to own and spend a digital currency could be as seamless as making a contactless card payment.”
Mastercard says it currently has a variety of projects in development that will help it achieve its goal. First, it plans to continue releasing crypto-focused debit cards around the world.
“These cards are a valuable bridge between existing financial services and the growing crypto ecosystem. In all, we’ve announced dozens of new crypto card programs globally this year.”
The firm also plans to supply cybersecurity tools to support crypto investors and issuers, as well as provide them a way to quickly convert crypto to fiat as a means of settling payments.
Mastercard also plans to bring over approved digital assets to their network, though no specific cryptocurrency was named. Lastly, the company says its working on supporting non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse by allowing users of crypto exchange platforms to pay for their digital collectibles using Mastercard.
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