Global financial services giant Mastercard has launched a new Web3 solution aimed at improving user authentication standards and “reducing opportunities for bad actors in the digital asset space.”
The solution is called “Mastercard Crypto Credential” and was announced on April 29. In an accompanying explainer video shared with Twitter, the company outlines that it is "building a way for Web3 and blockchain service providers to help ensure transactions between users are secure and conducted according to the standards set by Mastercard." verify."
As part of the solution, users will be provided with a "Mastercard Cryptographic Credential Unique Identifier," which in theory would allow people to instantly verify that the address they want to send money to has been vetted by Mastercard and has been doing so in accordance with the company's standard. “The solution is also designed to support compliance by exchanging essential metadata that meets regulatory requirements,” Mastercard said, adding that it should help “reduce opportunities for bad actors and the risk of funds being lost forever.”
So even if criminals slip through the cracks and gain access to a unique identifier, it seems like Mastercard could move quickly to revoke their verification if they're caught doing nefarious activities. The company lists a long list of partners behind the solution .On the wallet front, Mastercard has partnered with crypto wallet providers Bit2Me, Lirium, Mercado Bitcoin and Uphold. On the blockchain front, the company has partnered with Aptos Labs (Aptos), Ava Labs (Avalanche), Polygon Labs (Polygon), and The Solana Foundation (Solana). Mastercard also outlined that it will “leverage CipherTrace's suite of services — including CipherTrace Traveler to help verify addresses and support Travel Rule compliance for cross-border transactions.”
Mastercard has been increasing its exposure in the crypto space over the past few years, and the latest announcement comes just weeks after it partnered with Polygon to launch a non-fungible token (NFT) gated musician accelerator program. The program provides Mastercard Music Pass NFT holders with free access (until the end of April) to materials, unique artificial intelligence (AI) tools, and other experiences.
Mastercard rival Visa also made a cryptocurrency move earlier this week after the company's head of cryptocurrency Cuy Sheffield announced a new stablecoin payments-focused project on Twitter on April 24. While details are scant at this stage, Sheffield sha red a job listing for the position, which notes that the company is "building the next generation of products to facilitate commerce in everyone's digital and mobile lives." The company is looking for candidates with extensive experience in Web3 and blockchain technologies.
