Mastercard CEO Says He’s Optimistic on Global Crypto Adoption Amid Partnership With Coinbase

The CEO of credit card giant Mastercard is optimistic that the day will come when there is worldwide adoption of cryptocurrency.

In a new interview with Yahoo Finance, Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach says the company is investing in the crypto space with the belief that mass adoption of digital currency is “entirely possible” over time and with improvements.

Mastercard, one of the largest payments companies in the world, recently partnered with top US crypto exchange Coinbase for an initiative that would give customers the ability to use credit cards to purchase digital assets in the platform’s new non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace.

“It’s an interesting technology. People have an interest in that. There are problems to solve. Payments aren’t as efficient as they could be everywhere in the world. And we want to be there… But I think it’s a long way to go before crypto becomes mainstream.

I think there are questions on regulatory compliance, on scalable technology, on making sure there’s a predictable user experience. Why is buying an NFT such a clunky experience? It shouldn’t be. So we partnered with Coinbase to make it as simple as you buying a coffee.

I think these things all need to click in and then you have the building blocks for it to become mainstream. Is that going to happen in the next six months? Most likely not. But are we optimistic and are we investing? Absolutely.”

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