For TradFi, crypto is in a “transition period” and needs more ramps
As the crypto market works its way through a recession, more incoming money and users can help weather the storm.
But at the moment it is sometimes challenging for the layman to get into crypto. Understanding gas costs and purses isn’t intuitive, and the perceived miasma of complications currently surrounding the space isn’t helping either. To promote user adoption and the resulting capital inflow, web3 needs smoother on and off ramps to make it easier to source and interact with blockchains.
Trusted providers with existing regular audiences are betting they can help fill that gap.
In recent weeks, a number of well-known branded financial institutions have been rolling out new crypto products and services in an effort to make the space more accessible. At the end of April, Mastercard, PayPal and Robinhood all spoke independently about the steps they are taking to do this at Consensus 2023 and how they are advancing their moves in the crypto ecosystem.
“Despite the market, we remain on the verge of mainstream adoption,” Jose Fernandez da Ponte, SVP and GM of blockchain, crypto and digital currencies at PayPal, told MinRegion. “We started this technology because we believe it contributes to the idea of a faster, more inclusive financial services environment,” said Ponte.
The crypto ecosystem is in a “transition period,” according to Raj Dhamodharan, EVP of blockchain and digital currencies at Mastercard. The industry is figuring out the technology and what else it can get out of it, and “a lot of energy is going into figuring out the next use cases,” he said.
People new to crypto are likely more willing to use a platform they already know and trust to buy web3 products and services. Household financial names opening their doors to the ecosystem could prove to be the catalyst pushing crypto from a niche into something more.
On April 28, Mastercard launched “Crypto Credential,” a set of standards and infrastructure intended to help certify interactions between consumers and businesses using blockchain networks.
“We are excited about the underlying technology and the promise the technology offers,” said Dhamodharan. “We think public blockchains can be a tool to store and move value over time… and you need to show that you can do it in a regulatory compliant way.”