Mastercard CEO Michael Meebach revealed on his personal Linkedin profile yesterday that the company has begun working with Binance to allow payment system users to make purchases at more than 90 million shops using cryptocurrency.
Mibach believes that the potential of blockchain technology can be better unlocked for the masses by making cryptocurrencies easier to use. One way to do this is to allow people to pay with cryptocurrencies for everyday purchases.
The aim of the partnership with Binance is to allow cryptocurrency holders to use them to make purchases at the more than 90 million shops around the world that accept Mastercard.
The project is being launched in Argentina, where the national currency has a 71% inflation rate.
The Argentine peso (ARS) has lost nearly a third of its value against the dollar over the past 12 months. 1 BTC is now worth about 2.9 million ARS – 37% less than it was 12 months ago.
In four years, the Argentine peso has lost three-quarters of its value against the dollar. In the same period, Bitcoin has risen 114% against the dollar and an exorbitant 1350% against the peso.
VISA, Mastercard’s historic rival, is also making strides in adopting cryptocurrency.
The payments giant recently announced the launch of a new prepaid card with BTC cashback – the Ripio Card – in Brazil in partnership with Brazilian cryptocurrency broker Ripio.
