Mastercard is planning to help financial institutions offer their clients access to cryptocurrencies with the help of Paxos, a blockchain infrastructure platform.
According to CNBC, the international payment system wants to serve as a bridge between crypto firms and banks. A spokesperson for Mastercard said that the company and Paxos would handle "regulatory compliance and security."
Mastercard's Chief Digital Officer, Jorn Lambert, says there are still those who are afraid of contacting the crypto market due to risks of losing money. To overcome this issue, the payment system decided to bring in players from the traditional finance:
"There's a lot of consumers out there that are really interested in this, and intrigued by crypto, but would feel a lot more confident if those services were offered by their financial institutions."
Mastercard plans to pilot its new system for banks in Q1, 2023, then "crank the handle" to expand in more regions, without naming banks that have signed up so far.
The news comes shortly after Mastercard revealed a new service that will help banks on its network identify and block shady crypto transactions. The new platform called Crypto Secure relies on artificial intelligence, data from the blockchain, a public record of crypto transactions, and other sources.
