Mastercard (MA) plans to provide merchants with the possibility of accepting cryptocurrency payments later this year.
The feature would see Mastercard customers’ digital currency purchases resolved in crypto at participating retailers, a first for the financial giant, according to a source familiar with the matter. The firm has not yet revealed the, or when, digital currencies it plans to endorse.
The new plan promises to update the dynamic among the owners of the shops and companies that opt-in. Beyond the boundaries of the fiat ecosystem, they will be able to conduct their business, assuming, of course, their customers have crypto they are willing to pay.
Mastercard now provides consumer cards that, even without going through its network, enable individuals to transact with their cryptocurrencies.
Elon Musk’s Tesla recently announced that it had acquired $1.5 billion in bitcoin and will soon accept it as a means of payment.
Mastercard noted that not all cryptocurrencies would be accepted on its network, stating that it is also important to tighten regulatory procedures with many of the dozens of digital assets in circulation.
Owing to their volatile existence and capacity for money laundering, many cryptocurrencies have failed to gain the confidence of mainstream investors and the general public.
