MasterCard announced that it will provide cryptocurrency payment for merchants this year

• MasterCard, the global payment giant, announced that this year it will allow customers to pay merchants in cryptocurrency instead of in French currency.

• MasterCard has made it clear that it is interested in integrating stable currencies, not assets like bitcoin.

• MasterCard competitor Visa is also considering running cryptocurrency on its network.

MasterCard, a credit card giant, announced in today's blog that it will "start directly supporting selected cryptocurrencies on our network" in 2021.

Although MasterCard has cooperated with cryptocurrency payment companies Wirex and BitPay on cryptocurrency debit cards, in fact, the company has not directly contacted cryptocurrency, but today's news represents a change, that is, it allows cryptocurrency to be truly transferred in its transfer network.

But what cryptocurrencies will MasterCard support? In this regard, the statement in the blog announcement is somewhat general, pointing out that the company is looking for "encrypted assets that provide reliability and security". For example, stable currency-cryptocurrency designed to keep its value relative to assets such as US dollars, so that it can be used for payment.

According to MasterCard, its standard of integrated cryptocurrency payment focuses on consumer protection, strict supervision and compliance measures (such as KYC), and, crucially, people generally want to use cryptocurrency instead of just investing. After all, this is a payment platform, and a certain percentage of fees should be drawn from each transaction.
MasterCard used to show interest in stable cryptocurrencies. Last September, it launched a platform for the central bank to test the central bank's digital cash (called CBDC).

This week, everyone's eyes are focused on bitcoin, because after Tesla, an electric car manufacturer, bought bitcoin for $1.5 billion, the price of bitcoin hit a record high. As retail and institutional investors increase their bitcoin holdings and prepare to transfer funds, the use of stable currencies such as Tether and USDC has surged.

Today, Tether's circulation reaches $30 billion. It is about 25% higher than last month. For the second most popular stable currency USDC, the situation is similar. In the past 30 days, the market value of USDC increased from USD 4.7 billion to USD 6.7 billion.

At the end of last month, Al Kelly, CEO of MasterCard's competitor Visa, said in the first quarter earnings conference call that his company is considering adding cryptocurrencies to its network despite not making any promises.

However, according to today's announcement, MasterCard seems to be one step ahead of Visa in accepting cryptocurrency.