The collaboration introduces a euro-denominated debit card.
Global payment leader Mastercard has partnered with European crypto payments provider Mercuryo to expand support for non-custodial wallets.
Through the partnership, a debit card with a euro value will be available, allowing customers to spend cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, that is kept in self-custody wallets at more than 100 million Mastercard-affiliated retailers globally, Mercuryo said in an official press release.
Users can store their cryptocurrency without depending on centralized platforms like exchanges or banks by using non-custodial wallets.
Non-Custody Wallets Offer Users Full Control
Non-custodial wallets provide users complete control and accountability for safeguarding their money, in contrast to custodial wallets, which keep the private keys in the hands of a third party.
The crucial component that grants access to users’ digital assets is the private key.
The use of this storage option is growing in popularity among cryptocurrency enthusiasts who would rather not take on the risks connected to centralized organizations.
🌍 Over 500M people now own crypto, and we're set to double that! Why are people turning to on-chain?
— Mercuryo (@Mercuryo_io) September 5, 2024
From high-yield investments to tokenizing art and sending money abroad, crypto offers countless opportunities for financial independence often inaccessible in many countries.… pic.twitter.com/IjNuwsz4jM
Mastercard’s decision to back self-custody is indicative of the industry’s growing trend toward decentralization.
Mastercard’s Senior Vice President for Crypto and Fintech Enablement, Christian Rau, stated, “We are working closely with partners to innovate and enhance the self-custody wallet experience.”
He went on to say that the partnership with Mercuryo removes historical obstacles separating blockchain technology from traditional payment methods.
The collaboration seeks to provide customers with a streamlined, dependable, and safe method of using digital assets anywhere Mastercard is accepted.
Mastercard was established in 1966 and is a multinational payments company that provides financial services in more than 210 nations.
When the company declared that cryptocurrencies and stablecoins would be supported on its network in February 2021, it made its initial foray into the cryptocurrency market.
Since then, Mastercard has formed alliances with major players in the market, including US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and USD Coin provider Circle.
With the launch of a successful pilot program in August, Mastercard partnered with MetaMask, a top self-custodial cryptocurrency wallet, to offer cryptocurrency debit cards. This latest initiative with Mercuryo is the company’s response to that program.
By addressing the difficulties users encounter when switching between blockchain assets and conventional payment methods, the new business expands on that progress.
Mercuryo has set fees for the Mastercard-branded Spend card, which include a €1.60 issuance fee, a €1 monthly maintenance fee, and a 0.95% off-ramp fee.
Mastercard Resume Push into Crypto
Mastercard became a part of a group of big banks back in May in order to test distributed ledger technology for settling digital asset transfers between the companies.
Investment-grade debt, US Treasury bills, commercial bank money, and central bank money are among the assets on the test network. These assets are typically traded through different systems.
More recently, the payment giant announced that its new “Crypto Credential” service has gone live, making peer-to-peer crypto transfers far more intuitive for average users.
Through the use of a Mastercard Crypto Credential Alias, users of specific cryptocurrency exchanges can send and receive digital assets instead of lengthy, confusing strings of random numbers and letters that make up blockchain addresses.
Last year, Mastercard said crypto and blockchain are useful and can bring much more value to financial industries as a whole, but only when they tackle the security and ease of use issues in order to build trust.