Chainlink and Mastercard have partnered to enable payment for 3 billion cardholders worldwide to purchase crypto assets directly on-chain through secure fiat-to-crypto conversion.
The collaboration is enabled by Chainlink’s secure interoperability infrastructure and Mastercard’s trusted global payments network, “removing long-standing barriers that have kept mainstream users from accessing the on-chain economy,” the firms stated in a June 24 announcement.
Chainlink verifies and synchronizes key transaction details to enable Mastercard holders to access crypto directly, the Chainlink team added on X.4
In addition to the key players, Chainlink and Mastercard, several other partners will have a role in the operation. Zerohash offers on-chain services, liquidity, compliance, custody, and transaction infrastructure, while Shift4 Payments enables seamless card processing.
Swapper Finance and XSwap will be onboard to deliver a “next-generation” app experience and DEX functionality, and Uniswap sources the liquidity from decentralized exchanges.
The system creates a unified experience where users can convert fiat currency into crypto through smart contract execution in a regulated manner, the announcement stated. XSwap sources liquidity from decentralized exchanges like Uniswap, enabling final swap execution on-chain while maintaining compliance. It did not state whether access to crypto would be geofenced or only available in certain jurisdictions.
“This is the type of traditional finance and decentralized finance convergence that Chainlink was built to make possible,” said Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov, who added that he was excited about:
“Chainlink’s ability to enable this critical connection between the traditional payments world and the over three billion cardholders in the Mastercard user base, directly into the next generation trading environments of on-chain decentralized exchanges.”
Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president of blockchain and digital assets at Mastercard, said there was “no doubt” that people want to be able to connect to the digital assets ecosystem easily, and vice versa.
Unfortunately for the “Link Marines,” even a partnership as monumental as this has failed to move LINK prices very much as altcoins remain in the doldrums.
LINK has gained a meagre 3.8% on the day in line with a broader market uptick in the wake of the ceasefire in the Middle East.
The asset was trading at around $13.40 at the time of writing, down 55% from its recent high of almost $30 six months ago, and a whopping 75% from its 2021 all-time high as altseason remains a distant hope.
