Visa and Mastercard Delay Crypto-Related Products and Services Amid Ongoing Bear Market

• Visa and Mastercard have paused their efforts to forge partnerships with cryptocurrency firms due to ongoing bear market conditions and recent significant crypto collapses.
• Both companies plan to delay the launch of some of their crypto-related products and services until market conditions and regulatory environments improve.
• Visa and Mastercard will continue to focus on blockchain technology to address pain points and build more efficient systems, as they have done previously with partnerships and programmes such as Visa’s NFT creator programme and Mastercard’s incubator for emerging artists.

Despite their active push for crypto adoption for the past year, payments giants Visa and Mastercard expressed that they will pause their efforts to forge partnerships with other cryptocurrency firms citing the still ongoing bear market as well as the recent huge crypto collapses.

According to a report from Reuters, the payments processors decided to halt the launch of some of their crypto-related products and services until market conditions and the regulatory environment improve.

“Recent high-profile failures in the crypto sector are an important reminder that we have a long way to go before crypto becomes a part of mainstream payments and financial services,” a spokesperson for Visa stated

Although Visa will push back their cryptocurrency initiatives, the spokesperson assured that it does not change their crypto strategy and focus.

Last April 2022, the company launched a non-fungible token (NFT) creator program which aims to bring small businesses into the digital economy. Selected creators were able to participate in its one-year NFT immersion program. (Read more: Visa Launches NFT Creator Program)

“Our efforts continue to focus on the underlying blockchain technology and how that can be applied to help address current pain points and build more efficient systems,” a spokesperson for Mastercard said. 

Last month, Mastercard partnered with Immersve to enable crypto payments in Web3 through USDC settlements which will allow users to make crypto payments on digital, physical, and metaverse spaces. (Read more: Mastercard to Allow Crypto Payments in Web3 via USDC)

Prior to this, the payments firm also had a partnership with Polygon to launch a web3 incubator to help emerging artists connect with fans and advance their careers through the use of web3 tools and blockchain technology. (Read more: Mastercard Partners with Polygon to Launch Web3 Incubator for Artists)

Locally, Mastercard Philippines also stated that they are open to allowing cryptocurrency transactions on its platform if it will be approved by local regulators. (Read more: Mastercard PH to Open Doors for Crypto Once Regulated)

In 2018, Visa and Mastercard both expressed their desire to have a blockchain-based payment service to solve payment issues. (Read more: Mastercard to Help Speed Up Crypto Transactions)

This article is published on BitPinas: Visa and Mastercard Delay Crypto-Related Products and Services Amid Ongoing Bear Market

Disclaimer: BitPinas articles and its external content are not financial advice. The team serves to deliver independent, unbiased news to provide information for Philippine-crypto and beyond.

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• Source: https://bitpinas.com/business/visa-mastercard-delay-crypto-push/