<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">During an episode of The Scoop from last November, Mastercard EVP Jess Turner </span><a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/124710/mastercard-evp-jess-turner-on-becoming-a-crypto-first-company"><span style="font-weight: 400;">explained</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> how Mastercard was pivoting to become a ‘crypto first’ company. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mastercard has since made significant progress on this decision, including </span><a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/141469/mastercard-files-for-more-than-a-dozen-metaverse-and-crypto-trademarks"><span style="font-weight: 400;">the filing</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of over a dozen metaverse and crypto-related trademarks.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">During this latest episode of The Scoop -- recorded at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami -- Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercard’s EVP of Blockchain/Digital Asset Products &amp; Digital Partnerships, shared the progress the payments company has made since entering the crypto industry, and how the move is a natural extension of Mastercard’s core business.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As Dhamodharan explained:</span></p> <blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We are a payment company that enables commerce. That’s what we are about. The reason we got into crypto is this is about providing choice and making sure people can exercise that choice safely and securely. That’s what our network always stood for: enabling safe commerce experiences across multiple rails.”</span></p> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mastercard has also made progress on the NFT front, including a </span><a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/130596/coinbase-mastercard-partnership-nft-cards"><span style="font-weight: 400;">partnership</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> with Coinbase and an OpenSea </span><a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/140115/opensea-rolls-out-credit-card-payments-for-nfts"><span style="font-weight: 400;">integration</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. These decisions form part of Mastercard’s broader efforts to simplify the crypto experience for end-users.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As Dhamodharan commented during the interview:</span></p> <blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This is not about a crypto native going and buying an NFT… it’s really about enabling every artist and every creator to be able to have a large market for them to sell their artwork, and it’s really powering the creator economy. And how can we do that if we don’t enable common consumers to be able to purchase and hold the NFT using a simple consumer experience?”</span></p> </blockquote> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">During this Episode, Chaparro and Dhamodharan also discuss:</span></i></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mastercard and the metaverse</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Multi-chain/multi-currency future</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The NFT purchasing experience</span></li> </ul> <hr /> <p><b>This episode is brought to you by our sponsors <a href="http://www.fireblocks.com/">Fireblocks</a>, <a href="https://coinbase.com/prime">Coinbase Prime</a> &amp; <a href="http://crossriver.com/crypto">Cross River</a><br /> </b><em>Fireblocks is an enterprise-grade platform delivering a secure infrastructure for moving, storing, and issuing digital assets. Fireblocks enables exchanges, lending desks, custodians, banks, trading desks, and hedge funds to securely scale digital asset operations through the Fireblocks Network and MPC-based Wallet Infrastructure. Fireblocks serves over 725 financial institutions, has secured the transfer of over $1.5 trillion in digital assets, and has a unique insurance policy that covers assets in storage &amp; transit. For more information, please visit <a href="http://www.fireblocks.com/">www.fireblocks.com</a>.<br /> </em></p> <p><strong>About Coinbase Prime<br /> </strong><em>Coinbase Prime is an integrated solution that provides institutional investors with an advanced trading platform, secure custody, and prime services to manage all their crypto assets in one place. Coinbase Prime fully integrates crypto trading and custody on a single platform, and gives clients the best all-in pricing in their network using their proprietary Smart Order Router and algorithmic execution. For more information, visit <a href="https://coinbase.com/prime">www.coinbase.com/prime</a>.</em></p> <p><b>About Cross River<br /> </b><em>Cross River is powering today’s most innovative crypto companies, with banking and payments solutions you can rely on, including fiat on/off ramp solutions. Whether you are a crypto exchange, NFT marketplace, or wallet, Cross River’s API-based, all-in-one platform enables banking as a service, ACH &amp; wire transfers, push-to-card disbursements, real-time payments, and virtual accounts and subledgers. Request your fiat on/off ramp solution now at <a href="http://crossriver.com/crypto">crossriver.com/crypto</a>.</em></p><br /><span class="copyright"><p>© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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.</p> </span>