By
Temitope Olatunji
April 23rd, 2024
With the 2.8 billion Mastercard users globally, the announcement could skyrocket the adoption of Bitcoin and altcoins.
Financial services company Mastercard Inc (NYSE: MA) is partnering with digital asset trading firm Bakkt (NYSE: BKKT) to offer crypto credit and debit banks. The partnership will seek to provide easier means for consumers to pay using digital coins through their cards. In reaction to the news, Bakkt’s shares briefly soared 234% in Monday’s session. Currently. BKKT is at after-hours trading of $52.15.
Mastercard and Bakkt Join Forces
With the partnership between Mastercard and Bakkt, banks will have access to issue their branded credit and debit cards to interested customers. At the same time, any of the millions of merchants that use the Mastercard payment network can also begin to adopt crypto services and offer them to their consumers. In addition, the partnership will enable companies to include crypto as part of their loyalty reward programs.
The CEO of Bakkt, Gavin Michael, said that the crypto firm desires to “provide consumer choice.” Michael said the firm is keen on making crypto available for day-to-day transactions.
The crypto economy is rapidly expanding, and several indicators are showing that it will continue to grow. There is an increasing interest in crypto among Americans as more people prefer to transact in digital assets. Also, businesses and service providers are now moving towards crypto adoption. The Bakkt CEO noted:
“We’re seeing an increased amount of consumer choice in the ability to be able to use their form of payment. While we’re in the early stages of making this run, we’re showing the ability for people to be able to offer our merchants the ability to offer these new forms of payment as a way to acquire and appeal to new customer segments. We see a demographic that skews somewhat younger.”
The executive vice president of digital partnerships at Mastercard, Sherri Haymond, also commented on the collaboration with Bakkt. In a statement, Haymond noted that the aim is to efficiently provide crypto services to all of the company’s partners. He emphasized that the integration with Bakkt will enable its partners – banks, fintech, or merchants- to allow their consumers to buy, sell, and hold crypto.
Crypto Use to Expand with the New Partnership
With the 2.8 billion Mastercard cards in use globally, the announcement could skyrocket the adoption of Bitcoin and altcoins. Especially as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved Bitcoin-linked exchange-traded funds (ETFs), fingers are crossed on how much Bitcoin will surge as the year ends. Recently, the top crypto asset reached a historic high of over $66,000.
Mastercard stock is currently trading at $363.00, gaining 0.59% in the last 24 hours. Except for an over 8% loss recorded over the last three months, MA has been pulling in gains. The financial services company added 13.46% in the space of 1 year and increased 1.10% since the year began. Over the past month, Mastercard shares rose over 1% and another 0.68% in the last five days.