Mastercard Issues New Crypto Announcement: Key Details Revealed

Mastercard has announced a significant milestone with the launch of its Mastercard Crypto Credential, now operational with its first peer-to-peer (P2P) pilot transactions.

This marks the initial real-world application of the Mastercard Crypto Credential vision, originally unveiled at the Consensus conference in 2023. Additionally, the initiative has welcomed new partners into its ecosystem, further enhancing its capabilities.

The Mastercard Crypto Credential is designed to facilitate and verify interactions between consumers and businesses using blockchain networks. It ensures that users meet a set of verification standards and confirms that the recipient’s wallet supports the transferred asset.

By exchanging metadata, Mastercard Crypto Credential simplifies the process for consumers, eliminating the need to know which assets or chains are supported by the recipient's wallet.

For the first time, users of crypto exchanges will be able to send and receive cryptocurrency using their Mastercard Crypto Credential aliases instead of the traditionally long and complex blockchain addresses.

The live transaction capabilities are now available on the Bit2Me, Lirium and Mercado Bitcoin exchanges, thus facilitating blockchain transactions between Latin American and European corridors.

In addition, the activation of Mastercard Crypto Credential P2P transactions has the potential to significantly impact the domestic and cross-border remittance markets.

As stated in the release, users in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Uruguay will be able to send cross-border and domestic transfers across multiple currencies and blockchains.

The new development is expected to boost crypto adoption, while the potential for growth on the domestic and cross-border remittance markets looks promising.