The Mastercard payment system will expand its card program for cryptocurrency companies to simplify the conversion of digital assets into fiat. This is stated in the company’s press release.
Mastercard, in partnership with Evolve Bank & Trust, Paxos and Circle, will pilot a new capability that will enable a larger number of banks and cryptocurrency companies to offer cards to those who want to “spend their digital assets wherever Mastercard is accepted”.
Partners in the initiative include Metropolitan Commercial Bank, Uphold, BitPay, Apto Payments, i2c Inc., and Galileo Financial Technologies.
The release notes that crypto providers are currently facing difficulties in converting currencies. The new initiative is intended to address this problem.
To facilitate the conversion of cryptocurrencies to fiat, Paxos and Circle provide the platforms. In the pilot, Circle’s stablecoin USDC will serve as a bridge for this purpose. A Mastercard spokesperson, Kathy Priebe, said CoinDesk that USDC is currently the only stablecoin involved in testing.
In February 2021, Mastercard stated plans to open for merchants the ability to accept cryptocurrency payments directly.
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