Mastercard to Facilitate Conversion of Crypto to Fiat through Stablecoins

Payment processor Mastercard announced on Tuesday that it would enhance its card program for cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges to reduce friction in experience by making it simpler for partners to convert crypto to fiat currency. For this, the payment giant is working with Paxos Trust, which helped PayPal enable crypto buying, selling, and hold service for its users, Evolve Bank of Trust, and Circle, the issuer of the second-largest USDC stablecoin to facilitate the conversion of crypto to fiat through fiat-backed stablecoins. BitPay, Uphold, Metropolitan Commercial Bank, Apto Payments, i2c Inc., and Galileo Financial Technologies are other partners. “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. Scot Lenoir, chairman of Evolve, believes settlement via USDC and other stablecoins is the next step in modernizing banking for all, while JP Thieriot, CEO of Uphold says, removing friction and barriers to entry are “critical” to ensure the wide adoption of digital payments. Up until now, when people spent crypto, it all settled on Mastercard’s network, and those planning to launch or expand card programs found it challenging. Now, the company aims to solve this with its new capability that will enable more banks and crypto companies to offer a card option to people wanting 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,” said Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president of digital asset and blockchain products & partnerships at Mastercard.