Mastercard and MoonPay team up to pioneer crypto payment and Web3 solutions

The collaboration aims to leverage Web3 tools to enhance experiential marketing and discover innovative ways to connect with Mastercard's consumer base

By Shashank Bhardwaj

Published: Oct 27, 2023 06:33:43 PM IST

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Global payment giant Mastercard revealed its strategic partnership with crypto payment platform MoonPay. The collaboration, announced on October 25, is aimed at leveraging Web3 tools to enhance experiential marketing and discover innovative ways to connect with Mastercard's consumer base.

MoonPay's enterprise president, Keith Grossman, and Mastercard's chief marketing and communications officer, Raja Rajamannar, shared the exciting news at the Money20/20 event in Las Vegas.

This partnership aims to usher in a new era of consumer experiences in the Web3 space, with MoonPay bringing its expertise to the table by integrating Mastercard's products and solutions into its payment solutions. This includes tools such as "Click to Pay," Mastercard Send, and Mastercard Crypto Credentials, which ensures transactions adhere to regulatory standards.

Mastercard's Web3 marketing representative, Adam Polansky, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership and the prospects it holds for both companies. Mastercard's partnership executive, Elizabeth Taylor, echoed the sentiment, underlining the anticipation of exciting developments ahead.

Card networks like Mastercard have been exploring opportunities within Web3, from stablecoin-based payments to reducing gas fees in Ethereum transactions. Their recent collaboration with non-custodial wallet firms like MetaMask and Ledger underscores their dedication to exploring Web3 and cryptocurrency.

In recent years, the company has incorporated various crypto products into its platform. In 2022, Mastercard launched a program enabling banks to offer crypto trading capabilities in collaboration with Paxos. Mastercard has also collaborated with Coinbase and MoonPay to extend its reach into the Web3 and nonfungible token (NFT) space.

MoonPay's subsidiary, Otherlife will play a key role in this relationship by providing Web3 creative agency services, development, strategy, and experiential services.

MoonPay's co-founder and CEO, Ivan Soto-Wright, summed up the sentiment, stating, "We're excited to collaborate with Mastercard, a prominent supporter of Web3 and the digital economy, to redefine customer loyalty and engagement."

This partnership not only highlights the growing importance of Web3 but also demonstrates the commitment of major players in the finance industry to adapt and thrive in this new digital frontier.

The writer is the founder at yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash