(Reuters) – Mastercard Inc. said on Wednesday that it was planning to support some cryptocurrencies on its network this year, joining a number of high-cost companies that have promised similar support.
The credit card giant’s announcement comes days after Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc revealed that it bought $ 1.5 billion in bitcoins and would soon accept them as a form of payment.
Asset manager BlackRock Inc and payment companies Square and PayPal also recently supported cryptocurrencies.
Mastercard already offers customers cards that allow people to make transactions using their cryptocurrencies, but without going through its network.
“Doing this job will create much more possibilities for buyers and merchants, allowing them to transact in a whole new form of payment. This change could open merchants to new customers who are already switching to digital assets,” said Mastercard. (mstr.cd/3tLaPZM)
Mastercard specified that not all cryptocurrencies will be supported on its network, adding that many of the hundreds of digital assets in circulation still need to tighten their compliance measures.
Many cryptocurrencies have struggled to gain the trust of mainstream investors and the general public due to their speculative nature and potential for money laundering.
Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Edition of Ramakrishnan M.