{"id":74787,"date":"2023-02-28T17:59:05","date_gmt":"2023-02-28T15:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=74787"},"modified":"2025-09-09T22:16:05","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T19:16:05","slug":"reuters-mastercard-pauses-expansion-of-cryptocurrency-initiatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/reuters-mastercard-pauses-expansion-of-cryptocurrency-initiatives\/","title":{"rendered":"Reuters: Mastercard pauses expansion of cryptocurrency initiatives"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Payment giants Visa and Mastercard postponed plans to integrate cryptocurrencies after a string of bankruptcies that rocked the industry in 2022, according to <a href=\\\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/technology\/visa-mastercard-pause-crypto-push-wake-industry-meltdown-sources-2023-02-28\/#:~:text=Both%20Visa%20and%20Mastercard%20have,named%20as%20talks%20were%20confidential.\\\">Reuters<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\\n\\n<\/p>\n<p>Industry developments have drawn heightened scrutiny from regulators, according to sources. The payment companies intend to wait for improved market conditions and regulatory clarity.<\/p>\n<p>\\n\\n<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\\\">\n<p>\u201cRecent high-profile failures in the sector serve as an important reminder that we face a long road ahead before cryptocurrencies become mainstream in payments and financial services,\u201d said a Visa spokesperson.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\\n\\n<\/p>\n<p>He stressed that this does not mean the company is abandoning its digital-asset strategy.<\/p>\n<p>\\n\\n<\/p>\n<p>A Mastercard spokesperson said the firm remains focused on the underlying blockchain technology and its potential deployment to improve the efficiency of existing systems.<\/p>\n<p>\\n\\n<\/p>\n<p>During 2022, the company pursued a series of crypto-card initiatives, including collaborations with <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/nexo-unveils-mastercard-backed-crypto-card-for-europe\">Nexo<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/eurocoinpay-and-mastercard-to-issue-cryptocurrency-debit-cards\">EurocoinPay<\/a>. It participated in <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/mastercard-to-allow-cardholders-to-buy-nfts-with-fiat\">NFT initiatives<\/a>, including <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/miami-to-launch-nft-initiative-in-partnership-with-time-and-mastercard\">a partnership with Miami<\/a>. In October, Mastercard announced a solution for <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/mastercard-to-provide-banks-with-tools-to-access-cryptocurrencies\">bank access to cryptocurrencies<\/a> via the Paxos platform.<\/p>\n<p>\\n\\n<\/p>\n<p>Visa also supported crypto-card issuance by companies such as <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/coinbase-opens-access-to-its-crypto-card-for-all-us-residents\">Coinbase<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/bitcoinblack-launches-exclusive-visa-crypto-credit-card-in-the-uae\">bitcoinblack<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/blockchain-com-launches-debit-card-with-crypto-cashback\">Blockchain.com<\/a>. As an official FIFA payments partner, the firm unveiled a collection of NFTs for the FIFA World Cup on the Crypto.com platform.<\/p>\n<p>\\n\\n<\/p>\n<p>Earlier in 2023, the company confirmed plans to <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/visa-confirms-plans-to-integrate-settlements-in-stablecoins\">integrate<\/a> stablecoin payments on its platform and signed a strategic <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/wirex-expands-partnership-with-visa\">partnership with Wirex<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\\n\\n<\/p>\n<div class=\\\"wp-block-text-wrappers-update-2 article_update\\\"><time class=\\\"gtb_text-wrappers_update_time\\\">1 March 2023 | 15:13<\/time><span class=\\\"gtb_text-wrappers_update_head\\\">Update:<\/span>\\n<\/p>\n<p>The head of Visa&#8217;s cryptocurrency unit, Cuy Sheffield, described Reuters&#8217; report about the company as &#8216;not accurate&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>\\n\\n<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"twitter-tweet\\\" data-lang=\\\"en\\\">\n<p lang=\\\"en\\\" dir=\\\"ltr\\\">1\/ This story is inaccurate as it pertains to Visa, here\u2019s the reality ??<a href=\\\"https:\/\/t.co\/oAEaj7MsX0\\\">https:\/\/t.co\/oAEaj7MsX0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Cuy Sheffield (@cuysheffield) <a href=\\\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cuysheffield\/status\/1630600554069082112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\\\">February 28, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\\\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\\\" charset=\\\"utf-8\\\"><\/script>\\n\\n<\/p>\n<p>According to him, Visa continues to collaborate with crypto companies and to pursue new products using &#8216;stablecoins&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>\\n\\n<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\\\">\n<p>\u201cDespite the challenges and uncertainty in the crypto ecosystem, our view has not changed that fiat-backed digital currencies operating on public blockchains can play an important role in the payments ecosystem,\u201d added Sheffield.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\\n\\n<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"twitter-tweet\\\" data-conversation=\\\"none\\\" data-lang=\\\"en\\\">\n<p lang=\\\"en\\\" dir=\\\"ltr\\\">3\/ Despite the challenges and uncertainty in the crypto ecosystem, our view has not changed that fiat backed digital currencies running on public blockchains have the potential to play an important role in the payments ecosystem<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Cuy Sheffield (@cuysheffield) <a href=\\\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cuysheffield\/status\/1630600558368137219?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\\\">February 28, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\\\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\\\" charset=\\\"utf-8\\\"><\/script>\\n<\/div>\n<p>\\n\\n<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for American Express, another major card issuer, said the company does not consider cryptocurrencies a strategic priority in the near term.<\/p>\n<p>\\n\\n<\/p>\n<p>Back in June 2022, Gonzalo P\u00e9rez del Arco, American Express&#8217;s Director of Government Affairs in Southern Europe, <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/american-express-weighs-the-prospects-for-crypto-payments\">voiced<\/a> a similar position. However, he noted that the company is working toward using digital assets in payments.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Payment giants Visa and Mastercard postponed plans to integrate cryptocurrencies after a string of bankruptcies that rocked the industry in 2022, according to Reuters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":74788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[70,157],"class_list":["post-74787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-mastercard","tag-visa"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"8","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74787"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74789,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74787\/revisions\/74789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}