Cryptocurrencies are fast becoming a significant aspect of payment. Both public and individual investors are starting to see the undisputed necessity of digital assets as crypto communities in various parts of the globe see more adoption.
Payments giant Mastercard has announced that it is preparing to allow a number of cryptocurrencies to move through its network directly. Customers, merchants, and businesses will no longer need to convert cryptocurrencies into fiat currencies to transfer through the Mastercard network.
Mastercard made known in an announcement its preparation to permit a good number of crypto assets on its network directly. This means users, merchants, traders, and investors alike will no longer need to convert digital coins to fiat currency before using the Mastercard network.
Group Head of Digital Payments and Labs, Asia/Pacific, Raj Dhamodharan, laid emphasis on the importance of digital assets in the present financial system.
"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,” the executive emphasized, adding that the same standard applies to stablecoins. “We are here to enable customers, merchants, and businesses to move digital value,” Raj said.
Speaking further on the company and cryptocurrency, he also highlighted the crypto projects the company is actively involved in. With partners like Bitpay and Wirex, crypto cards that enabled users to transact with their cryptocurrency was created. The payment giant also teamed up with LVL crypto exchange to propel the crypto-verse to mainstream adoption.
“These relationships — with many more planned in the pipeline — build on our many years of crypto collaborations,” Raj said.
Although the company has been engaging in a couple of innovative crypto projects, digital assets do not move through the network. Raj mentioned that the company's crypto partners convert the crypto assets on their end to fiat currencies, then transact them through to the Mastercard network.
"Our change to supporting digital assets directly will allow many more merchants to accept crypto — an ability that’s currently limited by proprietary methods unique to each digital asset. This change will also cut out inefficiencies, letting both consumers and merchants avoid having to convert back and forth between crypto and traditional [fiat currencies] to make purchases." He said.
In addition, according to Raj, his company is also working with several major central banks across the globe as they explore the prospects of central bank digital currencies.
“Last year, we created a test platform for these banks to use these currencies in a simulated environment,” he noted, adding that Mastercard already has “one of the payments industry’s biggest blockchain patent portfolios to draw from to make these projects successful.”
Crypto adoption is increasingly important. Apparently, the future of finance is digital. With more large institutions adopting cryptocurrency, the space is in for a huge
