Mastercard, PayPal and Robinhood take a deeper dive into crypto as industry shows ‘promise’

For TradFi, crypto is in a “transition period” and needs more on-ramps

As the crypto market makes its way through a recession, more money coming in and more users could help it weather the storm.

But right now, it’s sometimes challenging for the layman to get into crypto. Understanding gas rates and wallets isn’t intuitive, and the perceived miasma of complication currently surrounding the space doesn’t help either. To help foster user adoption and the resulting capital inflow, web3 needs smoother on-ramps and off-ramps to make it easier to buy and interact with blockchains.

Trusted providers with existing core audiences are betting that they can help fill that gap.

In recent weeks, a number of brand name major financial institutions have launched new crypto products and services in an attempt to make the space more accessible. At the end of April, MasterCard, PayPal and Robinhood spoke independently about the steps they are taking to do so at Consensus 2023 and how they are progressing their moves into the crypto ecosystem.

“Despite the market, we’re still on the cusp of mainstream adoption,” José Fernández da Ponte, senior vice president and general manager of blockchain, cryptocurrency and digital currencies at PayPal, told TechCrunch. “We got into this technology because we think it contributes to the idea of ​​a faster, more inclusive financial services environment,” Ponte said.

The crypto ecosystem is in a “transition period,” according to Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president of blockchain and digital currencies at Mastercard. The industry is figuring out the technology and what else can be extracted from it, and “a lot of energy goes into figuring out the next use cases,” he said.

People new to crypto are likely to be more willing to use a platform they already know and trust to purchase web3 products and services. Domestic financial names opening their doors to the ecosystem could be the catalyst that pushes cryptocurrencies from niche to something more.

On April 28, Mastercard released “Crypto Credential,” a set of standards and infrastructure that aims to help certify interactions between consumers and businesses using blockchain networks.

“We are excited about the underlying technology and the promise that the technology offers,” said Dhamodharan. “We believe that public blockchains can be useful for storing and moving value over time…and you need to show that you can do it in a compliant way.”