Mastercard enhances its card program to simplify cryptocurrency-to-fiat conversion

By Pavithra R

Mastercard has announced enhancing its card program for cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges to make it simple for partners to convert cryptocurrency to traditional fiat currency.

Working with Evolve Bank & Trust and Paxos Trust Company, a regulated financial institution building infrastructure to enable movement between physical and digital assets, and Circle, a global FinTech firm and the principal operator of the USD Coin (USDC), a dollar digital currency or stablecoin, Mastercard and its partners will test this new capability to enable more banks and crypto companies to offer a card option to people who wants to spend their digital assets anywhere Mastercard is accepted.

“Today, not all crypto companies have the foundational infrastructure to convert cryptocurrency to traditional fiat currency, and we’re making it easier. Through our engagement with Evolve, Paxos, Circle and the larger digital assets community, Mastercard expects to deliver on our promise of consumer choice to provide options to people around the world on how and when to pay,” said Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president of digital asset and blockchain products & partnerships at Mastercard.

The enhancement to Mastercard’s existing Crypto Card Program includes a suite of partners. The firm is in discussions with Evolve Bank & Trust and Metropolitan Commercial Bank to issue cards, BitPay and Uphold to provide real-time crypto wallet technology, and i2c, Apto Payments and Galileo Financial Technologies to support processing and program management.

“BitPay believes the future of payments is on the blockchain because it transforms how consumers send, receive, and store money around the world. Working with Mastercard’s pilot to turn digital assets into dollars for everyday spending will accelerate consumers’ use of crypto as a means of commerce,” said Stephen Pair, co-founder and CEO of BitPay.

With this enhancement, Paxos and Circle will use their platforms to convert crypto to fiat through fiat-backed stablecoins backed by reserve assets. Making the process simpler is expected to give more banks and crypto partners the opportunity to offer their consumers the choice of paying with cryptocurrency.

“The collaboration between Circle and Mastercard demonstrates that dollar digital currencies like USDC play a foundational role in making payments more efficient and can facilitate new economic activity for businesses worldwide,” said Dante Disparte, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy at Circle.