Payment giant Mastercard finds that cryptocurrency and blockchainย tech are useful and can attract much more value to financial industries as a whole, but only when they tackle the security and ease of use issues toย beย ableย to build trust.ย
Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercardโs EVP and head of cryptocurrency and blockchainย tech, spoke withinย a North America Innovation Day event, and stated that the novel blockchainย technologies and cryptocurrency are becoming more trending globally.
Nonetheless, Dhamodharan noted, the lack ofย safety and complex user interactions limit the technologiesโ use cases and utilities.
Thisย isย why, while cryptocurrency technology has theย potential to store and move financialย resources and value, he argued, these use cases become sparse when safety and simplicity are not priorities.
The EVP was quoted by TechCrunch as saying that,ย
โInstilling trust in the blockchainย tech ecologicalย system is a critical step in realizing its full potential.โ
Similarly, Johan Gerber, EVP of Security and Cyber Innovation, stated that,
โWhat youย must for this tech to scale universally is interoperability and underlying security of trust.โ
Andย once these key points are accomplished, Dhamodharan opined, it will be a lot easier for numerous corporations, both traditional and new players, to enter the Webย 3.0 industry and engage with it.ย
Thereย is financialย resources and talent coming into the industry, and thereย is plentyย of innovation to be seen, but the technology holds more potential, Dhamodharan said.ย
โPeople look at cryptocurrency and think of it as an investment, but thereย is a whole sector thatโs a lot more useful for financial industries as a whole. The technology itself holds manyย of promise.โ
Gerber alsoย mentionedย that Mastercard โ intendsย to provide a technological foundation that allows everyone from small startups to substantial financial institutions to innovate and build upon.โ
Not a Newcomer
Mastercard is not new to the industry. Plentyย of developments have been announced inย theย previous few months alone.
Asย alreadyย stated in October aย yearย ago, the company debuted a new piece of software, Cryptocurrency Secure, powered by CipherTrace, meant toย assist banks identify and cut off transactions from fraud-prone cryptocurrency exchanges.ย
That same 30ย days, Dhamodharan stated that โsomeday soonโ we wouldย reach spend digitalย currencies as seamlessly as contactless card payments, but that it would require developments in some key areas, including cryptocurrency cards, service providers, and easier crypto-to-fiat conversion for payments.ย
In November, CEO Michael Miebach claimedย that it is โentirely possible,โ that one day everybody will be paying with Bitcoin, โbut I think itโs a long way to go before cryptocurrency becomes mainstream.โ
Likewise in November, Mastercard launched Start Path Cryptocurrency, a worldwide engagement program toย assist blockchainย tech, cryptocurrency, and digital investment startups scale.
Inย theย meantime, in June 2022, the company said it would begin enabling non-fungible cryptoย token (NFT) trading for a range of crypto- ecologicalย system platforms, including marketplaces, metaverseย network gaming titles, and Webย 3.0 infrastructure providers.
And in February inย theย year, Satvik Sethi, the previous Non-Fungibleย Tokenย (NFT) Product Lead at Mastercard, made a unique announcement: he surprised the Non-Fungibleย Tokenย (NFT) community by minting his resignation letter as an open-edition Non-Fungibleย Tokenย (NFT) on Ethereumย (ETH) via the digital collectibles protocol Manifold.ย
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Learn more:ย
โ BitOasis Partners With Mastercard
โ Mastercard to Enable Direct Non-Fungibleย Tokenย (NFT) Payment Options for Marketplace Operators
โ Payment Giants Visa and Mastercard Push Back Launch of Cryptocurrency Products Owingย to Uncertain Market Conditions
โ Visa Reaffirms Commitment to Cryptocurrency Tech Regardlessย of Recent Reports โ Hereโs The Latest
โ What is Blockchainย Tech Technology?
โ The Difference Betwixt Bitcoinย (BTC) and Traditional Currencies
