Mainstream brands and financial services companies 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 confidence.
Every industry has its hiccups and bumps, but crypto has been hit particularly hard recently, with plenty of headwinds from regulators and its own internal pitfalls in trying to scale.
“The crypto industry has been through a lot in recent quarters,” Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercard’s EVP and head of crypto and blockchain, said during a blockchain-focused panel at the company’s North America Innovation Day event.
While the web3 world has seen significant inflows of capital, innovation and talent, more work is needed to ensure that both traditional players and new players can confidently enter the ecosystem.
“People look at crypto and think of it as an investment, but there is an entire industry that is much more useful to the financial industry as a whole,” Dhamodharan said. “The technology itself is promising.”
Crypto technology today has a handful of use cases and utilities, 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.
“What you need for this technology to scale globally is interoperability and underlying trust assurance,” said Johan Gerber, EVP, security and cyber innovation. Mastercard is committed to providing a technology foundation that allows everyone from small startups to large financial institutions to innovate and build.