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MasterCard To Elevate Its Network By Announcing Support For Crypto

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Over the last decade, Bitcoin emerged as a prominent asset in the financial world. This notable journey of the asset has lured MasterCard and an array of mainstream companies into its industry. Earlier, accounts that were associated with crypto were outrightly banned. But now, however, banking giants were seen incorporating crypto into their system. After PayPal, MasterCard seems to be spearheading the move towards crypto.

MasterCard To Take A Plunge Into Crypto In 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic limited human contact and made the world realize the importance of digitalization. MasterCard seems to be getting on to the digitalization train with its latest venture. In a recent blog post, MasterCard revealed that it intends to aid cryptocurrencies this year. With the growing demand for crypto, the network doesn’t want to deprive its users of the digital asset world.

While the assets that MasterCard would potentially support is still under the wraps, the network wants to lay its focus on stablecoins. If this plan takes off, the network could spruce up crypto adoption as the network hoards a whopping 30 million merchants. The post further read,

“We are here to enable customers, merchants and businesses to move digital value — traditional or crypto — however they want. It should be your choice, it’s your money.”

With its latest move, MasterCard hopes to uphold four things, the privacy as well as security of its users and their information, KYC and other regulatory requirements, stability along with compliance with the local laws.

MasterCard’s association with the crypto-verse goes way back. The network even went on to join hands with prominent crypto platforms like Wirex as well as BitPay, last year to formulate crypto cards. Apart from this, the network is reportedly aiding central banks across the globe in the development of CBDCs.

Furthermore, the network made it clear that it wasn’t recommending its customers to start using cryptocurrencies. However, it promises to help its users, merchants as well as businesses to drive digital value.

While Visa is still discussing the potentials of incorporating crypto into its system, PayPal has even aggravated the bulls in the crypto market.

The overall market cap of the crypto industry had hit a high of $1.40 trillion, MasterCard’s latest move is speculated to help the industry achieve $2 trillion.

Bitcoin Briefly Transcends Alibaba After Skyrocketing Above $34k

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Bitcoin underwent a correction to $30,215 shortly after smashing a fresh all-time high on the 12th anniversary of its network being created. With this, the world’s premier crypto-asset went on to break several other records as well. One of the most prominent ones has to be Bitcoin surpassing Chinese multinational technology company Alibaba.

According to AssetDash’s chart for ‘Top Assets by Market Cap’, the leading cryptocurrency briefly crossed Alibaba to score the top 8th position on the ladder. During this short-lived tryst, the cryptocurrency went on to challenge the US electric vehicle giant, Tesla which was seated at the 7th position.

As Bitcoin broke $30k, Jim Bianco, popular macro strategist, tweeted,

“*BITCOIN EXTENDS RALLY TO TOP $30,000 FOR THE FIRST TIME. Bitcoin first passed $20,000 on December 16, and $25,000 on December 26. Now over $31,000 50+% gain in less than 16 days! Bitcoin makes TSLA look like it is standing still.”

Having quadrupled in terms of its price during 2020, the crypto began 2021 with a bang as it breached through the $30,000 mark for the first time ever, in fact, in less than three weeks ago to be specific, after first trading above $20,000. Just four days into 2021 and BTC has already exhibited an extension of its mainstream recognition, which might be held as a guarantee for a long-term bullish trend.

The latest pullback of more than 12% over the past day, from a market cap of over $636 billion to the current $563 billion drove the cryptocurrency to the 10th position. However, it continued to rank well above the financial service giants such as Visa and Mastercard.

Will Bitcoin be able to resume this?

It is very likely that Bitcoin could be, in the coming days, will be able to take over Alibaba once more. The very reason why it seems plausible is that more and more anxious institutions and corporations are on a buying spree of more and more BTC. Hence, the scenario for not just BTC but also the collective crypto market cap is getting more bullish by the second. It is not just the high-net individuals that have played their part, the retail FOMO was also important in this rally.

It is not just Bitcoin that reigns in the charts..

Apart from Bitcoin, the only other cryptocurrency that was found among the top 100 assets by market cap was Ethereum. Thanks to its overwhelming rally of 15% over the past 24-hours, the altcoin made it to 93rd position just above the British multinational investment bank and financial services holding company, HSBC Holdings.

Mastercard Aids Development Of CBDCs With The Launch Of New Testing Platform

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Central Bank Digital Currencies [CBDC] have undoubtedly caught the attention of several governments. While China has been making headway with regard to the development of CBDC, other countries have been following suit. In more recent updates, Mastercard rolled out a platform to facilitate the development of CBDCs.

CBDCs To Get A Boost With Mastercard’s Testing Platform

On Wednesday, Mastercard shared a press release announcing the launch of a testing platform. This virtual as well as the custom testing platform will reportedly aid central banks in evaluating the use cases of Central Bank Digital Currencies. The financial services giant further suggested that the latest platform would carry out operations that would carry out several operations like issuance to the distribution of CBDCs. Furthermore, the exchange of CBDCs among financial service providers, banks, and consumers will also fall under the purview of the platform.

Mastercard’s Executive Vice President of the Digital Asset and Blockchain Products and Partnerships sector, Raj Dhamodharan pointed out that several central banks have been working towards modernizing the current payments systems for the incorporation of CBDCs. He further added,

“Mastercard is driving innovation with the public sector, banks, fintechs, and advisory firms in the exploration of CBDCs, working with partners that are aligned to our core values and principles. This new platform supports central banks as they make decisions now and in the future about the path forward for local and regional economies.”

CBDCs are a great precedent as the world steers towards digitalization. While several believe that CBDCs will soon replace fiat currency, Mastercard has taken a step to aid the same. Even though Mastercard has rolled out its testing platform, it urged several commercial and central banks along with tech and advisory firms to evaluate the functions of CBDCs.

Furthermore, the Head of Blockchain, Digital Assets, and Data Policy at the World Economic Forum, Sheila Warren highlighted that Mastercard’s latest move could give central banks a clear picture of the prospects of CBDCs. Stressing on the importance of the collaboration of private and public sectors, she said,

“Central banks can benefit from support in exploring the option set available to them with respect to CBDCs, as well as gaining insight into what opportunities may be forthcoming.”

MasterCard and Visa Issue a Statement of Their Stance on Crypto, But Will They Issue Their Own Crypto?

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Major credit card firms, MasterCard and Visa, have released strong statements about digital currencies this week. However, the two companies do not appear to be planning on creating their own crypto.

This week, Visa reiterated its connections with significant crypto firms, including Anchorage, Fold, and Coinbase. On the other hand, MasterCard has revealed its plans to expand its cryptocurrency credit card partnerships, starting with WireX fintech company.

The supportive cryptocurrency point of view of the two credit card companies, begs the question: will any of the two firms become more ambitious and move on from crypto card partnerships, and develop their cryptocurrency? 

MasterCard and Visa explore blockchain technology

MasterCard and Visa both appear to be taking into account blockchain technology, at least hypothetically. Notably, MasterCard alone has filed more than 80 blockchain-related patents, and Visa on the other hand has filed more than 24 blockchain patents. For instance, Visa submitted a patent for a virtual asset that could be based on Ethereum blockchain. 

In the meantime, MasterCard has filed for a patent that can be utilized to develop new blockchain infrastructures, with multi-coin support. Nonetheless, an comprehensive analysis of the patents narrates how firms could manage virtual assets or apply digital ledger technology. The patents do not point at MasterCard and Visa are creating cryptos like BTC or ETH. However, there are no assurances the patents will be put into work; the two firms govern the intellectual activity for the tech outlined by the patents

Crypto regulations could hinder roll-out

Additionally, the strict crypto policing structure could also prevent MasterCard and Visa from rolling out a cryptocurrency. Although the two firms are in an excellent position to steer through the regulatory procedures, it might still take time.

The fact that MasterCard and Visa have stringent principles regarding regulatory conformity; the two firms would put a great deal of effort before issuing crypto to the public. Notably, the two firms abandoned the Facebook Libra project due to regulatory concerns back in 2019.

Mastercard Partners with Wirex to Take the Cryptocurrency Industry up to the Next Level

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The cryptocurrency market is maturing at a faster rate than thought before and investors are loving it. As the days progress, more and more mainstream players are entering the field which makes it even more important for developments to take place at a faster rate.

Mastercard was the latest mainstream player to make a mark in the virtual asset world after its recent tie-up with the London-based financial firm Wirex. Mastercard ‘s move is a step in the right direction for the industry that has been trying to get out of the shell.

With Mastercard’s latest offering, it has become clear that there is a pressing need for a legitimate platform for cryptocurrency transactions. Officials close to Wirex also said that they would become the first native cryptocurrency platform to gain principal membership on Mastercard. Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercard’s executive vice president for digital asset and blockchain products and partnerships said:

“The cryptocurrency market continues to mature, and Mastercard is driving it forward, creating safe and secure experiences for consumers and businesses in today’s digital economy. Our work with Wirex and the wider crypto ecosystem is accelerating innovation and empowering consumers with more choice in the way they pay.”

Now that Wirex can directly issue cards on the Mastercard platform, customers will have the added advantage of using Mastercard’s privacy and security features. At the same time, Mastercard will also bring more cryptocurrency firms into its Mastercard Accelerate start-up initiative.

While Mastercard certainly has an elevated playing field in the financial world, it is certainly not the first to enter space. Last year, Brian Armstrong, led by Coinbase, launched his own crypto card in partnership with Visa, the rival of Mastercard. Following this development, Coinbase went on to become a principal member of Visa.  Principal membership allows a partner to make use of more features within the card as well as penetrate into new markets.

Market analysts have refrained from calling the Mastercard update a watershed moment because of how the industry as a whole has grown. Looking at the changes over the last few months, it has become evident that there has been an increasing demand not only from an investor point of view but also from a regulatory standpoint. This will be Mastercard’s first major cryptocurrency venture following its association with the Facebook Libra project in 2019.

Long-standing Ripple Partner R3 Teams Up with Mastercard to Introduce Blockchain International Payment Solution

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Payment leader Mastercard plans to develop a blockchain platform for cross-border settlements in partnership with Ripple-backed fintech research company R3. According to information reaching our desk, Mastercard confirms that both companies have entered into a binding agreement that will see the two firms develop and pilot a payment solution project.

Initially, the payment solution project will strive to connect payment schemes faster while attracting financial institutions and banks with the support of Mastercard’s payment and clearing platform.

The partnership between the two companies brings on board the combined experience of Mastercard platform in payment systems with existing Ripple-powered R3 prowess in developing blockchain solutions. Industry players are hoping the new platform will aid in tackling industry challenges that have been associated with the money transfer such as costly processing fees, liquidity management and scarcity of connectivity and standardization between financial institutions and domestic clearing networks.

According to Ripple partner R3’s Chief Executive Officer, David E. Rutter:

“Since time immemorial, all institutions, large or small, depend on the ability to send and receive funds. However, all too often, the technology they count on proves to be cumbersome and expensive particularly international payments can be a real pain.”

Rutter continued,

“That is why we decided to build Corda specifically for enterprise use cases such as this. We look forward to working with Mastercard in revolutionizing the money transfer sector by supporting the payment giant bring blockchain-enabled settlement to businesses around the world.”

According to the press release that got issued earlier today by R3, the blockchain cross-border payment solution platform will be developed on Corda’s commercial version, the Corda Enterprise, as opposed to the commonly referred open-source Corda Platform.

As per an R3 technical whitepaper,

“Corda does not instruct settlements using a blockchain, and by design, it does not use proof-of-work or miners.”

For those who are not willing to go through the endless whitepaper, Corda is an authentic P2P platform of nodes. Every network of nodes is a Java Virtual Machine run-time environment that hosts Corda services while implementing discrete applications.

According to Mastercard press statement released earlier during the week, the two companies plan to pilot the new blockchain-backed international settlement solution to focus on connecting international payments faster with financial institutions, schemes, and infrastructures.

Mastercard’s Plan to Create More Avenues to Move Money in Association with Ripple Partner

As per Mastercard’s press release, the blockchain-enabled international payment solution is part of the company’s plans to reinforce its international settlement platform. Building on its purchase of Transfast, a global payment firm, earlier this year, Mastercard is positioning itself to be a solution provider in the money transfer industry.

The partnership with Ripple-powered fintech firm R3 promises Mastercard to achieve it’s giant’s multi-rail strategy which strives to see clients choose how their payments are moved.

According to Peter Klien, Mastercard’s executive vice president of new settlement platforms:

“Building a new and better international business-to-business settlement solution by improving global connectivity in the account-to-account sphere is vital to Mastercard’s vision. Our mandate is to deliver international payment infrastructure choice and connectivity, as shown through our recent strategic purchases and partnership, including our recent partnership with R3.”

Seems the Partnership Between the Two Corporate Giants is a Match Made in Heaven

In what can be considered as a match made in heaven, the two corporate giants appear to be cooperating on a whole new level. Before today’s new partnership between Ripple-backed R3 and Mastercard, the payment service provider, Mastercard, had joined the Marco Polo trade finance blockchain that was founded by TradeIX and R3.

It is Marco Polo trade finance blockchain intention to use every relevant payment resource available to settle trade settlements between trading partners who are carefully examined before being introduced into the program.

Looking at the history between the two companies, it is evident that there is more to what meets the eye. Mastercard is a global payment service provider while R3 is the owner of a massive infrastructure that accommodates over 2000 experts who work together across various platforms and borders to make Corda a success. And notably, being a long-standing Ripple partner, R3 boasts the capabilities of fast, cheap, and secure transfer of remittances, which certainly will help Mastercard with its mission.

Disclaimer: The presented information is subjected to market condition and may include the very own opinion of the author. Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.

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