Bridging the Gap: A Collaborative Approach to Blockchain & Crypto Partnerships with Shayaan Khanna at Mastercard
As recently as 2022, it seemed as though blockchain and cryptocurrency companies were about to reshape large swathes of the global financial sector right away. However, macroeconomic shifts and company-specific missteps have spurred heated discussion around whether blockchain will transform the internet, global commerce and financial services. Despite recent challenges, the promise of this transformative technology remains too great to ignore. It is equally true that work still needs to be done to improve the underlying infrastructure, trust and user experience before we onboard the next billion users.
Some of the most vocal narratives frame early-stage crypto companies in sharp opposition to existing financial incumbents. In reality, crypto FinTechs and TradFi institutions are joining hands to deliver new, innovative forms of commerce. Incumbents bold enough to embrace emerging technology outside of their four walls often gain an early competitive advantage and are well positioned to succeed in the longer-term.
Shayaan Khanna leads the Blockchain Product Partnerships team at Mastercard and has taken charge of creating robust alliances between the payment tech player and emerging enterprises in the blockchain and crypto-asset space. In a collaborative effort, Shayaan is helping to bridge the gap between the traditional and the innovative, forging partnerships that could shape the future of finance.
In this article with Wharton Fintech’s Josh Benadiva, Shayaan shares his thoughts on the future of finance, his personal journey into the world of blockchain, and the role that he sees Mastercard playing in shaping the industry.
Shayaan’s interest in fintech began while he was a student at Wharton Business School, graduating in 2020. His passion for technology and finance brought him to the Penn Blockchain Club and the Wharton Fintech Club.
Josh Benadiva:
Why don’t you start off by telling us about your journey into the world of FinTech, particularly blockchain and cryptocurrencies, during your time at Wharton? How did your background in financial markets and tech influence your decision to focus on this vertical, and what were some of the key projects and experiences that shaped your understanding of the potential of blockchain technology?
Shayaan Khanna:
First off, it’s great to be on the other side of the chair — I had a great time hosting folks on the podcast before! I arrived at Wharton with an active interest in financial markets, having worked in capital markets at J.P. Morgan for several years. I was fortunate to get a crash course in the fundamentals of financial markets and tech in the workforce, so a lot of the textbook material was familiar to me. I quickly realized I needed to keep building my craft with practical experience and independent exploration. The MBA provided a significant amount of dedicated time, resources and (most importantly) a supportive community to attend various conferences and events, enabling me to continuously expand my knowledge. The opportunity cost of leaving a perfectly good job on Wall Street was a constant reminder that I had to make the most out of my time in the program.
The first step was picking a favorite vertical within the expansive realm of FinTech. Some broad verticals are payments, investment platforms, alternative lending, insurtech, regtech, and, of course, blockchain and cryptocurrency. I picked crypto because it was the most controversial, intriguing, community-driven and earliest stage compared to the others.
One of my favorite projects was interviewing industry leaders on crypto governance for Professor Kevin Werbach. I’ve since remained in touch and have been a TA for an Executive MBA course around the “Economics of Blockchain and Digital Assets” for the past year. I’ve been able to engage with hundreds of students, eager to learn how blockchain technology can impact our daily lives. It’s amazing to see people motivated by the opportunity to solve complex problems or the desire to be a part of a community that values creativity and collaboration. Those who enjoy working on blockchain are often united by a shared vision of building a more transparent, efficient, and decentralized future. I often find myself in deep discussions about the potential for this technology to disrupt finance, law, healthcare, social governance and the creator economy.
After graduating from Wharton, Shayaan joined BNY Mellon’s Digital Partnerships and Strategic Investments team focusing on Blockchain and Digital Assets.
Josh:
Can you share your thought process behind choosing BNY Mellon to dive deeper into disruptive technologies and fintech, and how your involvement with the crypto community within the company eventually led to a more focused role in the blockchain space?
Shayaan:
Admittedly, BNY Mellon was an interesting career choice. I had already spent around seven years at a top NYC bank and went to grad school to explore disruptive technologies and fintech more deeply. BNY Mellon has been one of the leading financial institutions for 230+ years and was founded by Alexander Hamilton. I knew that BNY Mellon was building a reputation as a market leader in both permissioned blockchain and crypto. It was also becoming evident that there was a need for trusted, institutional-grade solutions in the crypto custody space. Though I was technically covering all FinTech verticals, I found myself part of a grassroots crypto community that got hold of the company. It grew from sporadic sessions to a more focused working group, until our ragtag team could rewrite our jobs to focus exclusively on blockchain tech.
As interest in blockchain and cryptocurrency continued to explode in 2020, many traditional financial institutions began to explore these emerging technologies. During his time at BNY Mellon, Shayaan had a direct line to the crypto community. He helped secure a deal with Fireblocks and launched their partnership, which was one of the very few crypto custody deals a GSIB bank has embarked upon.
Josh:
Once you completed the deal at BNY Mellon, it seems like you were eager for a new challenge in the crypto world. How did the opportunity at Mastercard arise, and what excited you about the prospect of creating your own role, building a team, and focusing on crypto, CBDCs, and digital asset tokenization?
Shayaan:
After the deal, I felt as though I had reached the peak of the mountain and was ready for a new challenge where I could solely focus on digital assets. The role on the blockchain partnerships team at Mastercard was on my radar, which provided me with the opportunity to mold my own role. There was also the potential to build a team (which happened within months of my joining!). Furthermore, I was able to focus on crypto, CBDCs and digital asset tokenization which were of great interest.
As the financial industry continues to evolve, the integration of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies is becoming increasingly important. While some companies have been hesitant to embrace these innovations, Mastercard has taken a proactive approach to work with regulators, banks and crypto-native Fintechs.
Josh:
Can you tell us more about your day-to-day work? How do you manage to stay engaged and up-to-date with the fast-paced developments in the crypto industry?
Shayaan:
I find Partnerships (sometimes called Biz Dev) roles particularly satisfying because you get to play a role in supporting innovative startups as they create new and exciting financial products and services. It’s like being a matchmaker, but for financial technology! I can spend my day learning about a Seed-stage startup, helping a large bank understand blockchain tech, working with our internal stakeholders to get a deal over the line, or figuring out the best GTM approach for a new product. The endless learning that comes with working in the crypto industry can be overwhelming at times, but the constant challenge of staying up-to-date with the latest developments keeps me engaged.
Mastercard is well known for delivering cutting-edge technologies to thousands of banks, fintechs and corporates over its history.
Shayaan’s team is responsible for building relationships with emerging blockchain and crypto-asset companies, and integrating their technology into Mastercard’s existing systems. By doing so, Mastercard is able to offer its customers access to new and innovative financial products and services.
The thesis behind Shayaan’s work is that there will be a symbiotic relationship between the innovative energy of blockchain startups and the industry knowledge of Mastercard.
Josh:
Can you discuss the importance of partnerships in the crypto industry and how they’ve evolved, along with your experience launching a Start Path track for digital asset startups? How has your Wharton education informed your strategic approach, and what advice would you give to those looking to stay updated in this field?
Shayaan:
I believe crypto and blockchain technologies have a long way to go before mass adoption. Like other emerging technologies, there is room to improve user experience and security. I believe that some of the key infrastructure will be built via partnership between incumbents and cutting-edge tech providers. Established players who embrace ecosystem innovation will be the ones best positioned to capture the upside. I believe joint approaches such as Fireblocks-BNY Mellon, and Blackrock-Coinbase bring together the best of both worlds on the investment side. Another example is the MoneyGram-Stellar deal, which demonstrates the potential for cross-border payments that are faster, cheaper, and more secure than ever before.
Startups are increasingly sophisticated in their negotiation and outreach. That said, I still believe working with established players can often bolster their go-to-market strategy and help them launch in multiple markets, reaching a much wider audience than they might be able to on their own.
Narratives within larger companies have also shifted from a simple white-label relationship and vanilla partner programs to co-creation of products and more complex strategic finance structures. Mastercard is well known for its award-winning startup engagement program called Start Path. Mastercard has engaged with more than 350 companies from 42 countries since 2014. I co-led the creation of a crypto-specific track that would best serve the unique needs of the industry and would be targeted at earlier-stage companies. We are often challenged to think outside the box to provide solutions to market participants who are either early in their lifecycle or entering a relatively uncharted side of the industry.
Initially, I had reservations when Professor Siggelkow (strongly recommend his class, by the way) asserted the essence of strategy is choosing what not to do. However, in my professional career I’ve learned to articulate and practice an intentional approach to outline the tradeoffs of each strategic choice. It’s quite easy to spread one’s attention and resources too thin across various appealing options. Fortunately, at Mastercard we have fairly robust product validation processes from idea conception to launch. I’ve often found myself interviewing Fortune 100 brands, payment facilitators, crypto wallets and NFT platforms to get their feedback firsthand on how to fine-tune a product idea.
I would encourage students (and lifelong students!) to read our blog to learn how we’re remaining a trusted partner to innovate with, despite all the recent uncertainty in the industry.
See here for Mastercard’s blockchain and cryptocurrency blog:
As the financial industry continues to evolve, it’s clear that companies like Mastercard will play an increasingly important role in shaping its future. With Shayaan Khanna playing a role in leading the charge, it seems that Mastercard is well-positioned to remain at the forefront of this innovation.
About Shayaan Khanna
Shayaan Khanna is a fintech enthusiast and leads crypto and blockchain partnerships at Mastercard. He’s worked in institutional capital markets and fintech, developing products and managing key client relationships at both J.P. Morgan and BNY Mellon.
Shayaan graduated with an MBA from Wharton in 2020. While at Wharton, he was an active member of Penn’s fintech and crypto community (including being a host on Wharton FinTech Podcast). He enjoys exploring breakthrough technologies, driving change through innovation and building relationships across industry.
About the Author
Joshua Benadiva is a second-year MBA Candidate at The Wharton School and a second-year Master’s in Computer and Information Technology Candidate at Penn Engineering. He is the co-head of the Wharton FinTech Podcast team, and he has a passion for building fun and easy-to-use products and solving critical financial problems through software. Don’t hesitate to reach out with questions, comments, feedback, and opportunities for Josh at benadiva@wharton.upenn.edu.
