VISA And MasterCard Will Not Be Issuing Their Own Cryptocurrencies

VISA and Mastercard will not be issuing their own cryptocurrencies as both companies made strong statements about it this week as we are reading more in the following crypto news.

VISA and Mastercard have some positive stances on blockchain and are truly working to provide access to crypto as patents and partnerships increase the possibility that either company could launch their own cryptocurrency. However, this is highly unlikely as both companies made key announcements regarding their stance on digital assets earlier this week.

Today, Mastercard announced the expansion of its #cryptocurrency program. This move makes it simpler and faster for partners to bring secure, compliant payment cards to market and easier for consumers to hold and activate cryptocurrencies. https://t.co/6xhiRk1YTM pic.twitter.com/2l8YypSMFp

— Mastercard News (@MastercardNews) July 20, 2020

Visa reaffirmed its relationship with companies such as Fold and Coinbase while Mastercard said they will expand the range of crypto card partnerships starting with Wirex. The pro-crypto stance of each company raised a huge question about whether both of them will move beyond making partnerships and introduce their own cryptocurrencies. Both companies seem to be considering blockchain technologies as MasterCard even filed more than 80 blockchain patents while Visa filed for 24.

Visa filed for a digital currency patent that can rely on Ethereum while Mastercard filed for one that can be used to create new blockchains that will be permissionless with small currencies support. On closer inspection, these patents describe ways in which the companies can process cryptocurrencies and how to use blockchain technology. They don’t suggest that Mastercard or Visa will ever issue a BTC-like crypto asset.

There’s also no certainty that these patents will be put into practice as both companies control intellectual properties for the technologies that the patents describe. Regulations can also discourage companies from creating a cryptocurrency because it will even take a longer time. If both companies launch a blockchain project that is their own, it seems that they will imitate banks and companies that have already done so.

Mastercard and Visa have no plans to create a stablecoin but banks pave the way for such a project. Most of the companies are working with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that are more interesting and in high demand. However, other notable payment companies are focusing on cryptocurrencies such as Square’s Cash App as it provided support for Bitcoin in 2017, and also others say that PayPal will start offering crypto by the end of the summer. Visa and Mastercard will have to offer access to crypto in order not to create their own cryptocurrency.