MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies
These stories usually spur more enthusiasm for buying cryptocurrency, but ironically those buyers aren’t interested in spending cryptocurrency using their MasterCard.<p>They’re hoping other people will buy cryptocurrency from these announcements, driving the price up. Or, more likely, they’re just hoping other people will buy cryptocurrency and <i>not</i> use it in these spending systems.<p>Spending cryptocurrency would result in selling that cryptocurrency, which would drive the price down. That’s not what cryptocurrency investors actually want.<p>Should also note that MasterCard crypto transactions almost certainly won’t be settled on the blockchain. Not with $8 Bitcoin transaction fees.  They’ll just be denominated in cryptocurrency and people can deposit/withdraw in certain cryptocurrencies. MasterCard only needs to buy and sell on the blockchain as needed to provide an FX window. The actual transactions would be stored in traditional database systems (aside from customer deposits/withdrawals, just like Coinbase)<p>Why? Because MasterCard would get to act as an exchange and collect exchange fees. Exchange fees are a great way to charge consumers for spending their own money in 2021, when normal credit cards actually pay people 1-2% to use them. Cryptocurrency’s inefficiency is their financial upside.