Payments giant Mastercard is reportedly launching a new program that will help banks offer crypto trading services to customers.
According to a new report by CNBC, Mastercard plans to serve as a bridge between banks and blockchain infrastructure firm Paxos to make it easier for the masses to access digital assets.
Mastercard says the program aims to take care of the regulatory and security requirements associated with virtual assets for the banks. The company says regulations and security are the two reasons most financial institutions shy away from offering crypto products.
Jorn Lambert, Mastercard’s chief digital officer, told CNBC that the credit card titan is launching the program because consumer demand for crypto investing through banks is on the rise.
“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.
It’s a little scary to some people still.”
According to Lambert, a recent poll showed that about 60% of those surveyed would prefer to try investing in crypto assets through the safety of their banks.
Lambert also says the current crypto bear market doesn’t signal the end of the industry, and that regulatory clarity will eventually bring about the proper security measures needed for widespread adoption of crypto assets.
The executive also adds that he doesn’t envision the crypto industry taking off without embracing the traditional financial system.
“It would be shortsighted to think that a little bit of a crypto winter heralds the end of [the industry] – we don’t see that. As regulation comes in, there is going to be a higher degree of security available to the crypto platforms and we’ll see a lot of the current issues getting resolved in the quarters in the years to come…
It’s hard to believe that the crypto industry will truly go mainstream without embracing the financial industry as we know it.”
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