Spokesmen for the world’s two largest card companies, Visa and Mastercard, told Reuters they are reassessing the cryptocurrency industry after the recent embarrassment of market giants.
For example, during Bitcoin’s last major bull cycle in 2021, Mastercard had purchased a cryptocurrency tracking company, demonstrating its interest in the industry.
Visa already conducted studies on recurring payments using Ethereum a few months ago. In addition, a giant executive also showed numbers that attracted the company to cryptocurrencies.
Crashes in the crypto sector damaged the confidence of Visa and Mastercard
Despite the two largest credit and debit card companies’ good relationship with cryptocurrencies, recent events ultimately undermined their confidence in this market.
One of the biggest highlights is the bankruptcy of the FTX brokerage and the largest Bitcoin miner, Core Scientific. The list goes on and on though, with a domino effect bringing down names as big as Genesis and hundreds of smaller ones.
Therefore, the departure of Visa and Mastercard seems obvious at the moment, as emphasized by their spokespersons.
“Our efforts remain focused on the underlying technology of blockchain and how it can be applied to solve current pain points and build more efficient systems”a Mastercard spokesperson told Reuters.
Visa’s view seems even more stern, pointing out that the collapse of giants shows that the industry is still immature to gain more exposure to the global financial system.
“The recent failures of crypto giants are an important reminder that we still have a long way to go before cryptocurrencies become part of mainstream payments and financial services.”a Visa spokesperson said.
Need to focus on the long term
Finally, everything indicates that the two will take a closer look at the crypto market when it appears more mature. That is, cryptocurrencies are not the problem, but some companies that end up tarnishing the reputation of the entire industry.
In addition, the recent crash also serves as an excuse for regulators to continue to deny Bitcoin ETFs in the US, which is ultimately reflected in their price. After all, a spot ETF would give BTC great institutional exposure, but this dream continues to be postponed.
In any case, the entry of other giants into the traditional market, such as Fidelity and BlackRock, could accelerate the maturity of this sector. That is, even if the short-term projection is bad, everything points to Bitcoin remaining a good long-term strategy.
Source: Live Coins
Barry Siefert is an accomplished journalist and author at The Nation View. He is known for his expertise in the field of cryptocurrency, and has written extensively on the topic. With a background in finance and economics, Barry has a deep understanding of the underlying technology and market forces that drive the crypto industry.
