Mastercard Is Changing the Сrypto Game

But There Is a Catch

"This is helpful in that it allows customers to gain exposure to the crypto asset class for speculative purposes, but it does not provide them actual ownership over their digital assets," he added. "To genuinely control your crypto assets, you must have the private keys to them, and Mastercard's software does not appear to allow users to do so."

This isn't inherently a negative thing, according to Corva, especially for users who don't want to deal with the duty of keeping their own private keys, "but it does conflict with the ethos of crypto, which is predicated on self-sovereignty."

Blockchains, he claims, are "basically banks in the form of a decentralized computer cloud that stores and protects digital assets while also facilitating their transactions. You increase counterparty risk to your investment when centralized financial platforms possess the private keys to your digital assets."

"Fortunately," Corva added, "Mastercard picked several counterparties with solid track records to assist in supporting the new services it will offer." "It is great to see another large financial organization, such as Mastercard, going deeper into the crypto arena," said Itai Avneri, INX's Deputy CEO and COO.

Institutional Engagement Is Growing

"While the so-called 'crypto winter' is wreaking misery on retail investors, this is another example of institutions building on the foundation laid by the retail community over the last decade," he added.

According to Avneri, institutional engagement is growing as cryptocurrencies' potential payment, investment options, and efficiency mature into institutional solutions.

"Their clients/customers are seeking and even demanding additional options for exposure," Avneri explained.

"The only way they can do this securely and successfully is to cooperate with regulated trading platforms - especially platforms that are broker-dealers, ATS, and have money transmitter licenses," he added.