Mastercard announce USDC stablecoin payment integration project

Market leading payment card issuer Mastercard has announced a new project that will incorporate USDC stablecoin as a means to facilitate crypto-to-fiat conversions in its payment facilities.

The pilot project, revealed by USDC developer Circle, will test the stablecoin at an institutional level and, if it achieves success, will rapidly accelerate adoption of internet-native financial infrastructures.

Speaking about the announcement, Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire said the USDC stablecoin integration would offer a simplified bridge between fiat payments and cryptocurrency wallets.

“We are thrilled to work with Mastercard to simplify card offering for cryptocurrency companies,” he said.

“The engagement between Circle and Mastercard reinforces how [the] USDC is growing its role in payments and commerce on the internet, while building a vital bridge between digital currency payment systems and large, established payment networks.”

A successful pilot project could see the USDC circulating supply increase substantially.

The supply of USDC has already grown rapidly to more than $25 billion circulating supply in recent years, with the cryptocurrency used in more than $785 billion of transactional volume facilitated on-chain.

“The engagement between Mastercard and Circle fuels new payment opportunities and commerce in digital currencies,” explained Raj Dhamodharan – Mastercard’s executive VP of digital asset and blockchain products.

“The cryptocurrency market continues to mature and we are driving it forward together to reduce friction and create choice for people.”

Mastercard embrace crypto payments

Although this news tails VISA’s step into USDC integration by a few months, this isn’t the first major move towards digital payment adoption by Mastercard.

In 2018, Mastercard was the first payment card issuer to successfully receive a patent for its innovative technology linking fiat bank accounts with cryptocurrency wallets in an effort towards the first crypto cards.

The following year, Mastercard listed countless job opportunities in the blockchain space in a demonstration of its substantial intentions in the crypto and DeFi space.

It is therefore no surprise to see this latest stablecoin integration as the firm continues to cut a path towards institutionalising cryptocurrency payments for the everyday person world-wide.

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