Payments giant Mastercard Inc has partnered with Crypto exchange Coinbase Global Inc to transform the NFT purchase experience for the users.
Raj Dhamodharan, the executive vice president of digital asset & blockchain products & partnerships at Mastercard, wrote in a blog post, “we’re excited to announce today that we’re partnering with Coinbase to let people use their Mastercard cards to make purchases on Coinbase’s upcoming NFT marketplace.” He also pointed out that buying NFTs should be a simpler, and intuitive process, and this partnership will be a step to make NFTs more accessible. Mastercard will also bring its cybersecurity capabilities to ensure customers’ data protection and the security of the purchased NFTs.
Until now, users had to purchase NFTs or non-fungible tokens with cryptocurrency tokens. The user has to first open a crypto wallet, buy crypto and then use it to purchase an NFT in an online marketplace. The partnership between Coinbase and Mastercard Inc. will enable users to make purchases on the NFT marketplace without owning cryptocurrency.
An NFT is a type of digital asset which is unique and can’t be duplicated. It is a non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a blockchain, a form of digital ledger. NFTs differ from blockchain cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin because each token is uniquely identifiable
Under the partnership, Mastercard will classify NFT as “digital goods,” which will allow cardholders to make NFT purchases through both credit cards and debit cards, a change from the status quo in the U.S. where many crypto purchases are supported with just debit cards.
“Thanks to our work with Mastercard, we’ll be able to provide a better customer experience on Coinbase NFT, and plan on working to find ways to bring this opportunity to the broader ecosystem through Mastercard’s scale and global network,” Coinbase said in its blog post. Prakash Hariramani, Senior Director of Product – Head of Payments, Commerce & Financial Hub at Coinbase also wrote, “Coinbase wants to simplify the user experience to allow more people to join the NFTs community. Just as we helped millions of people access bitcoin for the first time in an easy and trusted way, we want to do the same for NFTs,”
The fashion, gaming, and music industries are identifying the endless possibilities of NFTs and metaverse in unlocking innovation, creativity, and ownership. A simpler purchasing process will make NFTs more accessible and inclusive. This will allow the market to encourage more creators and could spark innovation in this digital space.
