Mastercard’s announcement was made after several major companies said the same thing. Moreover, the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk bought 1.5 billion US dollars of bitcoin and will accept it as a form of payment. Asset manager BlackRock Inc and payment companies Square and PayPal have also recently supported cryptocurrencies. Mastercard already offers cards that allow customers to transact using the cryptocurrency of their choice, even if it is not through its network. “Doing this work will create more possibilities for buyers and merchants, enabling them to transact in an entirely new form of payment. This change could open merchants to new customers who are already flocking to digital assets,” Mastercard said, quoted on Thursday (11/2/2021). However, Mastercard will not support all types of cryptocurrencies. They will tighten the selection because many digital assets have to renew legal compliance. Cryptocurrencies have long struggled to win the trust of conventional investors and the general public due to a large amount of speculation over cryptocurrencies and potential money laundering. Even recently, Nigeria had banned cryptocurrency transactions and made sure it’s complied with immediate effect.
