BTC Markets Partners With Mastercard To Offer Payment Options For Crypto

Australian crypto exchange BTC Markets is opening up debit, prepaid, and credit card payment options for its customers through the partnership with Mastercard.

Mastercard For Aussie Crypto Buyers

As a result of the partnership, the exchange’s customers will be able to purchase cryptocurrencies from the platform using their Mastercard through debit, prepaid, credit payment channels. Clearly, the financial services company is continuing to expand its services in Australia, especially by incorporating cryptocurrency functionality. 

Mastercard has already dipped its fingers in the proverbial Australian crypto jar. The payment giant had partnered with CoinJar last year to launch the crypto-to-fiat debit card, which allows users to make purchases by automatically converting cryptocurrencies into fiat currency wherever Mastercard is accepted.

The anticipation around the crypto regulations in Australia is rising daily, with the upcoming Federal Budget 2022 announcement scheduled for March 29. With most politicians and government bodies proposing stricter crypto laws higher taxes, the industry is bracing itself for a much harsher climate. 

Mastercard Continues Global Expansion

Australia is just one of the many global markets that Mastercard is targeting for the expansion of its services, specifically related to crypto offerings. The company has already partnered with several leading firms in the crypto space to offer consultation, NFTs, and even scaling solutions. 

One of the first such partnerships was back in 2021, with blockchain technology company Consensys. The collaboration produced the launch of the ConsenSys Rollups, which is an Ethereum scaling solution. The protocol leverages ZK Rollups to provide enterprise-grade scalability to financial organizations. 

Buy NFTs With Mastercard

However, in January 2022, Mastercard entered the burgeoning NFT space with the leading cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase. The purpose of this partnership was to simplify the user experience on the upcoming Coinbase NFT platform. The crypto company is working in tandem with Mastercard to classify NFTs as “digital goods” that would allow users to purchase NFTs through the latter’s payment gateway. The resulting product is supposed to be functioning like a social platform that creates opportunities for conversation and discovery, especially for users who are new to crypto and NFTs. 

Mastercard’s Crypto Consultation Services

More recently, in February 2022, Mastercard started its crypto consultation services. The decision was made as a result of the changing consumer preferences on a global level, rapid digitizations, and geopolitical shifts. The Mastercard consulting arm is already a payments-focused service. It will be including Crypto & Digital Currencies in its offered consulting services. More specifically, the offerings will cover grounds like early-stage, risk assessments, crypto and NFT strategy development, crypto cards, crypto loyalty programs. Additionally, the payments giant is also offering up its testing platform to central banks who are keen to explore a CBDC. 

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.