“Long way to go before crypto becomes mainstream”
CEO of the payments giant MasterCard Michael Miebach argued that several elements must come together before bitcoin (BTC) and crypto in general can become mainstream.
In an interview with Yahoo Finance, the CEO was asked if the day will come when everyone will pay with bitcoin, and Miebach agreed that it could well happen.
He said,
“Quite possible, but I think there’s a long way to go before crypto becomes mainstream.”
There are some obstacles to crypto becoming mainstream, including regulations, as well as simplicity and ease of use.
The CEO stated that “I think this issue of regulatory compliance, of scalable technology, of making sure there’s a predictable user experience — why is buying an NFT such a clunky experience? It shouldn’t be.”
Miebach argued that
“I think all these things have to click in and then you have the building blocks for it to become mainstream.”
This will “most likely not” happen in the next six months, he said, but the CEO added that he is nevertheless optimistic about the asset class.
As for what Mastercard’s role will be in the future of crypto, the CEO said that there are users who want to use crypto and that the company aims to provide it.
Mastercard wants to make payments in crypto as easy and safe as any other payment – for users to be able to buy crypto and pay with it using the card, but also to be able to reverse a payment, he said, adding:
“That’s how we’ve engaged a whole set of partnerships with crypto exchanges.”
Furthermore, Miebach said the company has “a whole set of services” that it deploys with respect to regulatory and regulatory compliance.
“So exchanges, banks and anyone else who wants to play in the space, ultimately, they all have needs that are pretty common in terms of security, so we meet them,” Miebach said.
He also briefly touched on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and the company’s role in this field, mentioning the partnership with the government of the Bahamas on Sand Dollar. This, he said, is “another angle on the crypto-economy where we advise and work with governments and we provide testing facilities,” he said, concluding that,
“We covered a whole spectrum of the crypto economy really.”
Mastercard’s relationship with crypto is long. As for the latest announcements, as reported, just a few days ago, Mastercard launched Start Path Crypto – a global engagement program to help blockchain, crypto and digital asset startups scale, it said.
At the end of October, crypto platform BitOasis and Mastercard partnered to launch a series of crypto card programs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
Also in October, Mastercard introduced its Crypto Source in partnership with the blockchain infrastructure platform Paxos Trust Company.
You can watch the entire interview here:
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Learn more:
– Mastercard wants to make cryptocurrencies an everyday way to pay
– Mastercard: 51% of surveyed consumers in Latin America and the Caribbean have “experienced” crypto
– Mastercard to enable direct NFT payment options for marketplace operators
– Nexo launches new Mastercard for users to use without selling crypto
