There is no need for Mastercard users to rely on a third party to make a direct crypto payment, they can just use their existing Web3 wallets and private keys to approve payments. Meanwhile, Immersve will find a third-party settlement provider and allow its users to use USDC for paying for all purchases.
Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) has partnered with Immersve, a Web3 payment protocol and end-end crypto card issuing platform that supports both centralized and decentralized payment experiences. Within the deal, Mastercard will enable its users to pay using crypto on digital, physical, and the Metaverse worlds. The transactions will be settled via USD Coin (USDC), a stablecoin fully backed by US dollars.
Mastercard and Immersve Partnership
There is no need for Mastercard users to rely on a third party to make a direct crypto payment, they can just use their existing Web3 wallets and private keys to approve payments. Meanwhile, Immersve will find a third-party settlement provider and allow its users to use USDC for paying for all purchases. Whenever a user wants to make a payment transaction, USDC will get converted to fiat before settling on Mastercard’s network.
Immersve CEO Jerome Faury commented:
“Collaborating with a well-known and trusted brand like Mastercard is a big step towards mainstream adoption of Web3 wallets.”
For Mastercard, a partnership with Immersve is a way to be a frontier in the digital currency space. Earlier, the payment giant teamed up with crypto exchange Binance to launch a prepaid rewards card in Brazil. The card is available to Brazilians with valid national IDs, it allows them to make purchases and pay bills using crypto, with as many as 14 cryptos supported.
Another effort of Mastercard to dive deeper into the crypto space was offering its consulting services in Crypto exchange, Open Banking services, and Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG). All of the new practices have covered areas in which Mastercard has been heavily investing recently as it moves beyond its core payments business and embraces the wider fintech scene.
Web3 Wallets Adoption
Web3 wallets are also attractive for Mastercard to adopt. Being users’ keys to the blockchain, Web3 wallets allow them to access and interact with decentralized applications, store digital assets (like NFTs) and cryptocurrencies, and more. According to statistics, $3.3 billion has been invested in Web3 wallets. This means more investors and businesses are venturing into the Web3 wallet development segment and boosting their revenue streams with it. As the demand for Web3 wallets is surging, some experts predict the Web3 market to reach as much as $81.5 billion by 2030.
Currently, the most popular and widely used Web3 wallet is MetaMask. MetaMask is a free hot wallet in the form of a browser extension that is committed to decentralized applications that are built on the Ethereum network. It basically provides support for Ether and all other ERC-20 tokens, allowing users to safely store them and exclusively make transactions to any Ethereum address.
Other Web3 wallets include Coinbase wallet, Trust wallet, Crypto.com wallet, and ByBit wallet.
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