Mastercard New Program to Assist Banks in Offering Crypto Trading

The payments company will collaborate with Paxos to launch a new range of services , including crypto trading, custody, and security management.

The program will provide banks with a turnkey solution for meeting their customers' crypto trading needs. Mastercard said the service would use the Paxos trading platform to execute trades while also assisting with regulatory compliance and security requirements.

According to Jorn Lambert, Chief Digital Officer at Mastercard, people are hesitant to invest in cryptocurrencies because of bad press related to volatility, hacks, and high-profile CeFi bankruptcies.

Lambert insisted that the program would satisfy this unmet need, citing a recent survey in which 60% of participants said they would prefer to "test the waters" through their current bank.

“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.”

The pilot program will begin in Q1 2023, and it has plans to roll out to additional regions. At this time, no information was provided regarding the areas under consideration or the banks that have already enrolled.

The upcoming plan follows last week's announcement by banking giant BNY Mellon that it would permit a select group of institutional clients to hold and transfer bitcoin and ether on its new crypto custody platform in the US. According to executives and industry observers, TradFi institutions are choosing to invest more in the market despite the ongoing crypto winter.