In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Mastercard CFO Sachin Mehra addressed his views on cryptocurrency.
When asked about the success of Mastercard’s crypto strategy, he expressed that they (Mastercard) help people buy and sell cryptocurrency.
He continued that Mastercard plays two major roles. First off-ramp: Debit/Credit cards are used by customers to purchase crypto; second on-ramps allow consumers to gain access to be able to use their crypto balances everywhere Mastercard is accepted. The company has plans to develop products and services in three key crypto-related areas: cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and central bank digital currencies.
Mehra was further asked how much traction crypto assets can get as a true form of payment. He replied that it’s hard to say at this point, but he said for anything to be regarded as a payment means for Mastercard, it has to have a store of value.
He explained further that the thing about fluctuating prices of crypto assets is that they can be really frustrating for consumers. You don’t know what your coffee will cost until after you buy it, which means if the price changes dramatically between transactions (like from $3 to $9), then there’s no way anyone could’ve known this was coming.
Mehra concluded that they view crypto as more of an asset while stablecoins and CBDS have a better chance of being used as payment vehicles.
In February, Mastercard expanded its payments-focused consulting service to include cryptocurrency. The payments giant has filed trademark applications (15 so far) for many metaverse and NFT services. In a major milestone for the company, they have announced that their payments network will soon be available on web3 and NFTs.
