Crypto Source is set to be rolled out to the U.S, Brazil and Israel in early 2023 — but at this stage, it's unclear which financial institutions will be involved.
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Mastercard has rolled out a new pilot program that will allow consumers to buy and sell cryptocurrencies directly from their bank accounts.
Crypto Source is set to be rolled out to the U.S., Brazil and Israel in early 2023 — but at this stage, it's unclear which financial institutions will be involved.
Research performed by Mastercard suggests that 29% of those polled hold crypto as an investment — but 65% would want crypto services to be offered by the banks they currently use.
Through Crypto Source, banks are set to be given the "technology and partnership support" to give their customers access to digital assets.
Crypto analytics and transaction monitoring — alongside anti-money laundering and Know Your Business checks — will also be rolled out to achieve regulatory compliance.
And crypto debit cards will ensure everyday consumers can spend their digital assets anywhere Mastercard is accepted, as well as benefit from an offramp back to fiat.
Ajay Bhalla, the president of cyber and intelligence at Mastercard, said:
"At Mastercard, trust is our business. What we are announcing today is a connected approach to services that will help bring users safely and securely into the crypto ecosystem. Our recent investments in this space, such as the acquisition of CipherTrace and Ekata, are providing us with a unique set of capabilities to help provide our customers and consumers with the most technically advanced solutions available in the market."
And Mastercard's chief digital officer Jorn Lambert described this as "an exciting step in our crypto journey that draws on the strengths of our global business," adding:
"Our crypto product innovations will provide choice at scale and continue to bring one-of-a-kind opportunities to financial institutions as they seek to offer new, advanced services to their customers."
Mastercard has made a slew of announcements related to crypto in recent weeks.
Earlier this month, it launched a tool called Crypto Secure to help banks spot and cut off transactions from crypto exchanges that are susceptible to fraud.
And in September, Mastercard revealed that it would allow debit cards to be customized with blue-chip NFTs such as Bored Apes and CryptoPunks through a partnership with hi.
During a recent interview with CNBC, Bhalla was asked whether the bearish turn in the crypto markets has affected Mastercard's plans to become a bigger player in digital assets. He said:
"These are market cycles, they will come and they will go. I think you’ve got to take the longer view that this is a big marketplace now and evolving and is probably going to be much, much bigger in the future."
