[2018-03-19]MasterCard Open To ‘Not Anonymous’, State-Issued Cryptocurrencies, A

[Diced90]

MasterCard Open To ‘Not Anonymous’, State-Issued Cryptocurrencies, All Others ‘Junk’
MasterCard is receptive to the idea of using central bank-issued national digital currencies in the future, according to the co-president of Mastercard’s Asia-Pacific business, the Financial Times reported today, March 19.

Senior MasterCard executive Ari Sarker told the Financial Times that “if governments look to create national digital currency we’d be very happy to look at those in a more favourable way [as compared to cryptocurrencies in general]”:

“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.” 

Ajay Banga, the CEO of MasterCard, had also said last fall that MasterCard would find a “way to be in the game” for government-created digital currencies, labelling all other cryptocurrencies without government-backing as “junk.”

Government-issued currencies have been discussed in several countries globally, but as-of-yet the centralized crypto phenomenon has not been realized by most. The most notable example of a successfully-issued state crypto is the Venezuelan Petro, which was recently released under a cloud of controversy.

Sarker also said that MasterCard was currently running a Bitcoin (BTC) pilot program in Japan and Singapore that would allow BTC holders to cash out onto a MasterCard, adding that the program involves both KYC and AML components:

“We are not operating trading of bitcoin through the MasterCard network [...] [The pilot] is a toe in the water, we're fully cognisant of the reputational risk.”

Read more https://cointelegraph.com/news/mastercard-open-to-not-anonymous-state-issued-cryptocurrencies-all-others-junk

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[Gotottack]

I am expecting this. Mastercard will of course be receptive about anything to do with the government's laws, rules and regulations for otherwise, they will be put in hot water with respect to their business. They will do whatever the government mandates of them because their business operations can be put to halt should they be unsupportive of what the government enacts or promulgates. Otherwise stated, they really have NO choice. They are just bound to follow. Anyhow I see it as a smart move for them to openly be supportive of State-issued cryptocurrencies. Their openness about it gives them sort of a leeway that the government will later on notice, which may result to possible reciprocal concessions.

[MMostaza]

MasterCard Open To ‘Not Anonymous’, State-Issued Cryptocurrencies, All Others ‘Junk’
MasterCard is receptive to the idea of using central bank-issued national digital currencies in the future, according to the co-president of Mastercard’s Asia-Pacific business, the Financial Times reported today, March 19.

Senior MasterCard executive Ari Sarker told the Financial Times that “if governments look to create national digital currency we’d be very happy to look at those in a more favourable way [as compared to cryptocurrencies in general]”:

“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.” 

Ajay Banga, the CEO of MasterCard, had also said last fall that MasterCard would find a “way to be in the game” for government-created digital currencies, labelling all other cryptocurrencies without government-backing as “junk.”

Government-issued currencies have been discussed in several countries globally, but as-of-yet the centralized crypto phenomenon has not been realized by most. The most notable example of a successfully-issued state crypto is the Venezuelan Petro, which was recently released under a cloud of controversy.

Sarker also said that MasterCard was currently running a Bitcoin (BTC) pilot program in Japan and Singapore that would allow BTC holders to cash out onto a MasterCard, adding that the program involves both KYC and AML components:

“We are not operating trading of bitcoin through the MasterCard network [...] [The pilot] is a toe in the water, we're fully cognisant of the reputational risk.”

Read more https://cointelegraph.com/news/mastercard-open-to-not-anonymous-state-issued-cryptocurrencies-all-others-junk

It is, at least, surprising that now MasterCard is running a Bitcoin pilot program in Japan and Singapore, when in the past Mastercard and Visa classified the buying of cryptocurrency as a cash advance instead of a purchase (https://www.altcoinss.com/news/news-mastercard-open-to-cryptocurrency-but-there-s-a-catch?uid=10005)

I suppose they are just understanding that they can not show the back to cryptocurrency and, even if they don’t trust it, they need to make some steps in that direction to not to miss opportunities in the future. Although they consider it a risk.

[Schirer]

Sarker also said that MasterCard was currently running a Bitcoin (BTC) pilot program in Japan and Singapore that would allow BTC holders to cash out onto a MasterCard, adding that the program involves both KYC and AML components:

“We are not operating trading of bitcoin through the MasterCard network [...] [The pilot] is a toe in the water, we're fully cognisant of the reputational risk.”

Read more https://cointelegraph.com/news/mastercard-open-to-not-anonymous-state-issued-cryptocurrencies-all-others-junk

Vouvaviva.
This comes to my as surprise. I was under impression that MasterCard had a stance of somewhat of Haters in this matter.

But this in any case shows that they are not blind and are thinking ahead not to be left out at the end.