Global payment giant, MasterCard, launches Crypto SourceTM, a new program for cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges, by enabling financial institutions or banks to offer crypto-based products to their clients. The initiative was announced Oct 16, and this will further solidify Mastercard’s core business model by integrating crypto into it.

Mastercard mentioned that it is expanding its existing partnership with a blockchain infrastructure platform, Paxos Trust Company for its crypto asset trading and custody services.

President, of Cyber & Intelligence at Mastercard, Ajay Bhalla 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.”

The card program will simplify the task of converting cryptocurrency to traditional fiat currency for banks and other financial institutions. They have partnered with  Evolve Bank & Trust, also with a global financial technology firm Circle, as well as with Paxos Trust Company, one of the leading blockchain infrastructure and regulated stablecoin issuance platforms. Mastercard and its partners will test this new capability to enable more banks and crypto companies to offer a card option to people wanting to spend their digital assets anywhere Mastercard is accepted.

Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president of digital asset and blockchain products & partnerships at Mastercard, commented, “Today not all crypto companies have the foundational infrastructure to convert cryptocurrency to traditional fiat currency, and we’re making it easier. Through our engagement with Evolve, Paxos, Circle, and the larger digital assets community, Mastercard expects to deliver on our promise of consumer choice to provide options to people around the world on how and when to pay.”

Dante Disparte, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy at Circle, commented: “The collaboration between Circle and Mastercard demonstrates that dollar digital currencies like USDC play a foundational role in making payments more efficient and can facilitate a new economic activity for businesses worldwide.”

Mastercard is already letting millions of its merchants and users use digital assets on their payment rails and swap crypto for fiat or vice versa. 

The company will work as a “bridge” between banks and a crypto trading platform, Paxos. Whereas, Paxos is already used by PayPal. This program will take care of client security and regulatory compliance, the two main factors due to which banks avoid the asset class.

Charles Cascarilla, CEO and co-founder of Paxos said, “Paxos builds the underlying technology that will usher in an open digital economy. Our stablecoins are trusted, regulated, and always fully backed one-to-one by U.S. dollars. We can facilitate instant settlement for transactions on a 24/7 basis, 365 days a year. By partnering with Mastercard, we’ll bring the benefits of crypto and blockchain to the everyday lives of consumers globally.”

Mastercard’s chief digital officer, Jorn Lambert said, “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.”