It seems that the world of virtual currencies keeps expanding and traditional financial institutions are trying to embrace them. Mastercard was able to win a patent that would allow users to manage ‘fractional reserves of blockchain currency.’ In the future it might be possible to use a credit card and use bitcoin as the main currency of the transaction.
Mastercard Working with Blockchain Technology
According to Seth Eisen, Mastercard’s senior vice president, it is possible to pay for things using only the currency that the government declared as legal tender. In a document published within the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Mastercard explains that there is an increased interest in using virtual currencies for anonymity and security.
The document explains:
“While blockchain currencies can often provide such safety and security for the payer’s information, such security may be limited for payees, particularly due to the limitations of the blockchain.”
It is important to mention that some transactions still take over 10 minutes to be registered on the blockchain, while some traditional payment methods require just nanoseconds to process the payment. This is an important problem that needs to be solved, because consumers and merchants need to wait an important amount of time for the transaction to be processed. And yes, those accepting these payments may be in a disadvantage because of the anonymity level of cryptocurrencies.
“Many entities, particularly merchants, retailers, service providers, and other purveyors of goods and services, may be wary of accepting blockchain currency for products and participating in blockchain transactions,” the document stated.
The company is working in order to improve its services and bring new solutions to the market. The main intention is to create value for cardholders and allow them to have a better user experience.
Eisen explains that patent application are just part of this process of improving the reputation of the company, even when this idea does not even reach the market.
Some companies are starting to accept virtual currency payments for their products and services. At the same time, there are some firms that are offering crypto debit or credit cards, allowing users to spend their virtual currencies paying with plastic cards in shops from all over the world.
