Mastercard sees ‘a lot of promise’ in blockchain technology if security and simplicity are prioritized

Mainstream brands and financial services firms are testing the waters of crypto, but many are hesitant to fully dive into the blockchain realm due to uncertainty and a general lack of trust.

Every industry has its own hurdles and obstacles, but crypto has been hit particularly hard lately, facing tussles from regulators and its own internal pitfalls as it tries to scale.

“The crypto industry has been through a lot over the past few quarters,” said Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercard’s EVP and head of crypto and blockchain, during a blockchain-focused panel at the company’s North America Innovation Day event.

While the Web 3 world has seen a significant influx of capital, innovation and talent, more work needs to be done to ensure traditional players – as well as newcomers – can confidently enter the ecosystem.

“People look at crypto and think of it as an investment, but there is a whole sector that is much more useful to the financial industry as a whole,” Dhamodharan said. “The technology itself holds a lot of promise.”

Crypto technology has a handful of use cases and utilities today, such as the ability to store and move capital and value, but those use cases are limited when security and simplicity are not a priority, Dhamodharan said. .

“You need interoperability and built-in security of trust to scale this technology globally,” said Johan Gerber, EVP, security and cyber innovation. Mastercard aims to provide a technology foundation that allows everyone from small startups to large financial institutions to innovate and build.