Payments giant Mastercard is partnering with crypto technology firm Bakkt to allow partner merchants, fintechs, and banks to accept cryptocurrencies at the point of sale.

Why should we care?
Mastercard’s tie-up with Bakkt – a company that was spun out of Intercontinental Exchange and recently went public – allows Mastercard partners to accept crypto by way of Bakkt working in the background to provide underlying custodial services. The move adds steam to cryptocurrencies as payment vehicles, as other large payment providers (including Visa) enhance their reach into crypto offerings. Forays from Visa and Mastercard into crypto payments may be seen as a future-proofing initiative, especially since cryptocurrency and blockchain infrastructure is a threat to traditional card networks. The partnership with Bakkt allows banks to offer their consumers crypto cards, and enhance capabilities for consumers to make purchases with crypto. Of course, the availability of these offerings isn’t likely to cause a groundswell of immediate interest among average consumers in crypto payments because of friction with setting up a wallet, along tax and volatility challenges. But this development still represents a big step along the journey to bring cryptocurrency into the forefront of mainstream financial services.