Mastercard and Mass Crypto Adoption

Why are payment cards Visa & Mastercard essential to mainstream crypto adoption? 

• First think about how many people in the world have one of both of these cards and use them regularly for daily or weekly purchases.
• Secondly crypto has to be that easy for mass adoption to take place.  Yes its more than Network Effect (AKA Metcalfe's law) it must include easy to use features and functions. This includes Wallet(s)!
• Third Mastercard had 249 million credit card holders in the U.S. and 725 million cards in the rest of the world at the end of March 2021. Think about how many trillions of transactions this equates to. Ponder how consumers and merchants change this equation by switching or adding Crypto.

Let's jump into my DeLorean and go back in time. Set the dial to July '20, that is when Mastercard selected 'Wirex' to issue MasterCard backed Bitcoin Debit cards. Now let's head back to the future... June '22

New Mastercard Partners just this year:

• Coinbase - Jan '22
• Ankr partner - April '22
• 7 NFT platforms - June '22 including:
  • Immutable X, the layer 2 solution for NFTs
  • Sports NFT platform Candy Digital
  • Web3 metaverse The Sandbox
  • Marketplaces such as Mintable, Nifty Gateway and Spring (my article on Nifty Gateway https://www.publish0x.com/new-to-cryptos/nifty-gateway-nfts-galore-xqmxlky)
  • and payment solution MoonPay
• Don't overlook last year Mastercard acquired Ciphertrace to fight money laundering in the crypto realm - my article on Ciphertrace  https://www.publish0x.com/new-to-cryptos/ciphertrace-acquired-by-mastercard-xmmjorm

Retailers already accepting Crypto

• Burger King 
• Chipotle
• Mattel
• Pepsi
• And for those high rollers reading this blog post... Gucci to start accepting several types of Crypto in '22 
• And many many more retailers are already available and more are coming as Crypto grows and grows

What else has Mastercard been doing to know they plan for big things from the crypto realm?

• Building a consulting practice that includes Crypto & digital assets - Feb. '22
• Allowing Crypto's onto their network in Feb. '21. Fear not it is anonymized and in aggregated to prevent anyone individual from being Identified
• They already have 89 Crypto/Blockchain patents and 285 submissions under review - expect this number to go up. 
• Mastercard To Help Central Banks Test their own Digital Currencies (CBDC) - Sept. '20
• Think about the 7 NFT firms and what they expect from the partnership, more transactions over their network and increasing adoption.

Summary - Mass adoption is important for Crypto's to take off and mature. Additionally, keep the CBDCs from being jammed down our throats. Mastercard is allowing Crypto to be a choice to consumers and merchants on their (Mastercard) own network. They are ramping up their skills and their network is support crypto already.  This global player is critical for more Crypto adoption, Crypto Winter or Bull, it's all important!