Mastercards global head of crypto explains how the company is embracing NFTs and more

During an episode of The Scoop from last November, Mastercard EVP Jess Turner explained how Mastercard was pivoting to become a crypto first company.

Mastercard has since made significant progress on this decision, including the filing of over a dozen metaverse and crypto-related trademarks.

During this latest episode of The Scoop — recorded at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami — Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercards EVP of Blockchain/Digital Asset Products & Digital Partnerships, shared the progress the payments company has made since entering the crypto industry, and how the move is a natural extension of Mastercards core business.

As Dhamodharan explained:

We are a payment company that enables commerce. Thats what we are about. The reason we got into crypto is this is about providing choice and making sure people can exercise that choice safely and securely. Thats what our network always stood for: enabling safe commerce experiences across multiple rails.

Mastercard has also made progress on the NFT front, including a partnership with Coinbase and an OpenSea integration. These decisions form part of Mastercards broader efforts to simplify the crypto experience for end-users.

As Dhamodharan commented during the interview:

This is not about a crypto native going and buying an NFT its really about enabling every artist and every creator to be able to have a large market for them to sell their artwork, and its really powering the creator economy. And how can we do that if we dont enable common consumers to be able to purchase and hold the NFT using a simple consumer experience?

During this Episode, Chaparro and Dhamodharan also discuss:

  • Mastercard and the metaverse
  • Multi-chain/multi-currency future
  • The NFT purchasing experience

This episode is brought to you by our sponsorsFireblocks,Coinbase Prime&Cross River
Fireblocks is an enterprise-grade platform delivering a secure infrastructure for moving, storing, and issuing digital assets. Fireblocks enables exchanges, lending desks, custodians, banks, trading desks, and hedge funds to securely scale digital asset operations through the Fireblocks Network and MPC-based Wallet Infrastructure. Fireblocks serves over 725 financial institutions, has secured the transfer of over $1.5 trillion in digital assets, and has a unique insurance policy that covers assets in storage & transit. For more information, please visitwww.fireblocks.com.

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About Cross River
Cross River is powering todays most innovative crypto companies, with banking and payments solutions you can rely on, including fiat on/off ramp solutions. Whether you are a crypto exchange, NFT marketplace, or wallet, Cross Rivers API-based, all-in-one platform enables banking as a service, ACH & wire transfers, push-to-card disbursements, real-time payments, and virtual accounts and subledgers. Request your fiat on/off ramp solution now at crossriver.com/crypto.

2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.