Payments colossus Mastercard announced a partnership with Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, to enable crypto payments in 90 million stores. The recent move may pave the way for cryptocurrencies to become more mainstream.
Here are things you need to know about the partnership between the two giant firms.
1. The partnership can unlock the full potential of blockchain technology. Mastercard announced that it can make it easier to access and use.
2. This would be done by bringing crypto to everyday purchases.
3. Mastercard is working with Binance to let people use their crypto to make purchases at 90m+ stores that accept Mastercard.
4. The launch of the partnership begins in Argentina and will spread to other parts of the world. Binance has earlier launched the Binance card in the South American nation with Mastercard.
5. Mastercard will launch cryptocurrency payment cards supporting 14 cryptocurrencies, including Tether, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB.
6. Customers can also earn 1% to 8% in crypto-cash back and will pay no ATM fees.
Since the Argentine peso suffers from hyperinflation of more than 80% and the Argentine government recently put tight controls over the buying of U.S. dollars, Argentinians have flocked to crypto as a haven, with as many as 1 in 3 buying or trading crypto every month.
Binance is by far the world’s largest crypto exchange, whilst Mastercard, a payments giant, was until recently very anti-crypto. A partnership between two titans in a country crying out for alternatives to their restrictive payments regime is a sign of things to come.