Mastercard recently announced its partnership with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, which will allow Mastercard users to purchase non-fungible tokens (NFT) from Coinbase’s marketplace.
This partnership follows the company’s recent “Coinbase NFT” launch, which is a peer-to-peer marketplace for minting, purchasing, showcasing, and discovering NFTs back in October 2021.
Both companies will be classifying NFTs as “digital goods”, to make it easier for a bigger group of consumers to buy them. On top of that, Mastercard will be offering its cybersecurity services to ensure that all customers’ data is protected and the NFTs they purchase are also secure.
“Our mission at Coinbase is to increase economic freedom in the world. By enabling more people to join the creator economy and profit from their work, NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) have an important role to play in this mission. However, the experience of purchasing an NFT remains complex for many users. Coinbase wants to simplify the user experience to allow more people to join the NFTs community,” said Prakash Hariramani, Senior Director of Product at Coinbase.
Meanwhile, Executive Vice President, Digital Asset, Blockchain Products and Partnerships at Mastercard Raj Dhamodharan believes that the process to purchase an NFT should be made easier, as it isn’t that simple for most people to do so. “Today, if you want to buy an NFT — such as a digital art piece — you first need to open a crypto wallet, buy crypto, then use it to purchase an NFT in an online marketplace. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts are used to this process. But for most people, it’s not simple, it’s not intuitive. We think it should be much easier. That will ensure NFTs can be for everyone,” he said.
