Bitcoin Forum

I read an interesting article two days ago about MasterCard and that they are considering accepting crypto-currencies but only if certain conditions are met.
They have already started a test program in Japan and Singapore where they allow their users to cash out Bitcoin onto a MasterCard.

Ari Sarkar, MasterCard’s co-president said: “So long as it’s backed by a regulator and the value . . . it is not anonymous, it is meeting all the regulatory requirements, I think that would be of greater interest for us to explore.” Said Sarkar.

I dont like that he is expecting cryptos to be issued by central banks, what is the purpose of cryptos in that case but overall this could lead to better things I feel.
Do you think MasterCard could be the big partner for new opportunities?


Here is the link to the whole article:
https://crypto-lines.com/2018/03/19/mastercard-accepting-cryptocurrencies/  

The article clearly states that MasterCard is not moving towards to Bitcoin, cryptocurrency for MasterCard means some kind of "digital fiat" which is issued by the central banks like cash and the money at the banks. I can understand that this would be a really good thing to MasterCard, because they will only need to issue cards and the payment processing network will be the cryptocurrencie's network. This means that MasterCard won't need to maintain a large payment network, but a smaller one, this can lead to cost reduction -> more profit with the same income structure.
The Japan and Singapore program is just a test. This is a test for a kind of fully regulated exchange (like a bitcoin exchanging bank, only specialized for this purpose, as I understood), so this exchange have to implement the KYC/AML policies fully, and will be able to exchange the bitcoins into fiat, and the customers can use this fiat with their MasterCard cards...
This is really looks like a bank, because it will check the incomes (in bitcoin) and if it doesn't fit for the AML policies, they will block it and won't let the customer use those funds... Also they will be fully connected with the tax authorities. This will be good for merchants who have incomes in bitcoin, they can prove the source of the funds, so this could be a possible solution for them, to exchange their coins in case of need.

This is good only for transition.  I would rather like to see a fully integrated Bitcoin in the payment system, but there is a lot to do with Bitcoin and the road will be bumpy.
Decentralization doesn't include banks, but it is hard to avoid them.

What? If it is true this is a great news.Bitcoin definition of one of the world's largest money transfer sub-structures is a great advantage not only for Bitcoin but also for all Crypto Money.

Its just a test and only in two countries at the moment. It has to be fully regulated by a Central Bank for Mastercard to even consider this. No anonymous transactions of course.

all financial institutions the world over must be itching to deal in  crypto currencies especially as it has become crystal clear now that a failure to integrate crypto currencies into your business model may result in them becoming irrelevant , however because they are part of the established financial  structure its not easy to act alone as this can also result in the total annihilation of your business as the financial world is a linkage based industry and by acting on your own you might loose an important correspondent bank so most institutions even though they would want to take the elevator up to bitcoins are afraid because of the financial implications it will have on theirs businesses. This statement from MasterCard comes as no surprise to me as its the opinion of quite a few of these institutions but they are being kept in check because of the reasons i mentioned earlier.

Let me say this in the beginning that i am not a fan of Master card in the first place as they usually withdraw partnership in the middle as we have seen in the past as services like neteller and skrill withdraw the support of Master card,but this is an interesting development and i would like to see how things go from here,it will be a wonderful service if they allow hassle free investment and withdrawal of funds from major exchanges.

at the end of the day it will only benefit MasterCard not the users. whether it is services offered for bitcoin and other altcoins or if it is for some bank issued cryptocurrency doesn't matter. everyone is seeing the high volume and demand that is coming from investors aka speculators into cryptocurrencies so they want in. there is a lot of profit to process this huge amount of transactions for this group of people when they transfer their fiat in and out of crypto markets.