Mastercard to enable banks to offer crypto trading services with new solution
Payments giant Mastercard is gearing up to launch a new solution designed to give banks and other financial institutions the ability to offer crypto trading services to customers.
Mastercard to enable banks to offer crypto trading services
Named Crypto Source, the new offering is being developed in partnership with New York-based fintech Paxos, a blockchain infrastructure platform.
The collaboration will see Paxos provide crypto trading and custody services on behalf of the banks, while Mastercard will “leverage its technology to integrate those capabilities into banks’ interfaces”.
Upon launch, Mastercard says its partners will have access to “buy, hold and sell services for select crypto assets, augmented with proven identity, cyber, security and advisory services”.
Jorn Lambert, chief digital officer at Mastercard, adds: “Our commitment is simple – to explore crypto and the underlying digital assets technology to support consumer choice in payments.”
The firm says Crypto Source is still in development and is currently being prepared for pilot programmes, while details of a wider launch will be announced “at a later date”.
Mastercard has made a number of moves to further its crypto strategy in recent years.
In September 2021, it acquired blockchain analytics start-up CipherTrace to boost its crypto cybersecurity capabilities. Later that year, it partnered with crypto start-up Bakkt to enable its merchant, bank and fintech customers in the US to offer cryptocurrency solutions and services.
In August this year, crypto exchange Binance partnered with Mastercard to offer a crypto-enabled payments card in Argentina.
