Cryptocurrency was first developed as a substitute for financial institutions. Now, it has become common enough that more than 50-year-old credit cards company Mastercard offers its customers access to cryptocurrency digital wallets, cryptocurrency-branded debits and cards, and even cryptocurrency-based loyalty programs rewards. These tools are part of the Mastercard agreement he announced Monday is Bakkt, a platform for buying and selling digital goods such as crypto.
Banks and financial institutions that offer Mastercard credit and credit cards can now help customers pay their bills and gain loyalty with bitcoin, the cryptocurrency that the Bakkt platform supports. As part of the Mastercard and Bakkt partnership, merchants including restaurants and retailers will be able to offer bitcoin as a replacement for the principles of loyalty that cards often offer users. At the same time, these Mastercard customers will have the opportunity to convert the information they already have into bitcoin and store it in Bakkt’s digital wallet.
This will provide more than 2.8 billion Mastercards with mobile travel access to the crypto investment world. Even people who choose to convert or accumulate rewards in crypto will still be at risk because the value of cryptocurrency is determined by the volatile crypto market, Mastercard offers make risk-taking easier and simpler than private enrollment. for a crypto platform.
This is not the first Mastercard to pursue cryptocurrency. There are already several Mastercard credit cards for people who want to use cryptocurrency. Mastercard debit is a debit card that is issued by the platform Encourage and BitPay allowing people to quickly convert their cryptocurrency to a traditional currency, while a Mastercard credit card issued by a crypto company Gemini allows customers to earn rewards in cryptocurrency based on their work income.
In September, Mastercard too was created its first unmodified signal, or NFT, (life ball written by football coach José Mourinho) as part of the credit card loyalty. Now, Mastercard’s decision to integrate support for bitcoin into its payment network means even more people not exposed to cryptocurrency, but rewarded with it. Mastercard said the recent expansion would affect more than 20,000 financial institutions, including banks and credit unions, who work with the company.
Much of the time when these new skills will be available to customers will be shared later, according to Mastercard.
“As a product of entrepreneurs looking to attract smaller consumers and preferences and sales, these new offerings represent a unique opportunity to satisfy the volume of crypto, pay, and reward flexibility,” said Nancy Gordon, vice president Bakkt’s prize and reward, said in a statement. words.
The announcement comes as credit card companies are slowly abandoning their cryptocurrency concerns and looking for ways to make money on its popularity. In the first half of 2021, Visa customers spent more than $ 1 billion in cryptocurrency and credit cards provided by the company through a partnership with. three different crypto platforms: Circle, BlockFi, and Coinbase. Some credit card companies have indicated that they will be able to resume cryptocurrencies soon. Late last year, American Express set in a cryptocurrency trading platform called FalconX; At the same time, Discover Financial, which holds the Discover Card, has begun hiring employees to build more cryptocurrency technology.
Credit card companies are just one example of financial institutions that create more space for ordinary people to acquire and use crypto. In April, Coinbase – a platform for buying and selling cryptocurrencies – became the first a crypto company to go public – which allows people to invest in cryptocurrency without buying a particular currency. Bakkt, a platform working with Mastercard, was also announced earlier this month. And last week, the first cryptocurrency-linked wallet, or ETF, which is a security fund tied to a future bitcoin price, started a business. Payment platforms such as Paypal, Venmo (owned by Paypal), and Square all support cryptocurrency transactions, and Square is similar. meditation building a bitcoin mining business, which is a way to use more computing power to create new bitcoins.
Another sign that cryptocurrency is about to become: expanding its investment in new fraud and security technologies to better manage credit card fraud and lawsuits. Unlike traditional currencies, digital assets such as bitcoin are not regulated or controlled by any government, and their scripts make it difficult to track and modify cryptocurrency transactions. As a result, crypto is at risk of theft and is accepted by money launderers. Just days before the announcement of the size of the cryptocurrency, Mastercard purchased CipherTrace, and cryptocurrency solid with the help of the Department of Homeland Security which identifies itself as “the first blockchain legal team in the world.” Paypal has also sought to hire cryptocurrency experts to deal with them security issues such as money laundering and counter-terrorism.
Cryptocurrency has become very popular, including terrorists, so the US Marshals Service, the government agency responsible for seized assets, hired cryptocurrency the bank to keep all the cryptocurrencies seized after investigating the charges. The situation is a reminder that when credit card companies try to make digital assets more common among credit card holders, cryptocurrency comes with risks.
However, many cryptocurrency owners do not seem to be concerned that some of the big financial institutions are slowly moving towards being crypto-friendly. Apart from that, it is hard to ignore that the growing efforts of cryptocurrency have had a positive effect on raising the price of cryptocurrency. cryptocurrency funds they already have.