Patent Says MasterCard Could Accept Bitcoin
Want to make purchases on your credit card using Bitcoin? Seems like a dream to many, but that dream may be coming true soon. On Tuesday, MasterCard won a patent to manage “fractional reserves of blockchain currency.”
In the patent document published, MasterCard described “increased usage” in blockchain currencies by customers who “value anonymity and security.” As of now, MasterCard holders can only pay for things using currency a government has approved as legal tender.
There are however disadvantages to digital currency, as noted in the patent document, with a need to improve storage and processing of such transactions. "While blockchain currencies can often provide such safety and security for the payer's information, such security may be limited for payees, particularly due to the limitations of the blockchain," the document said. Digital coin transactions still take significantly longer also: about 10 minutes for blockchain transactions compared to nanoseconds for traditional payments.
Hence, both consumers and merchants have to wait a long time for these digital payments to go through, or “rely on the payer’s good faith” that they are legit, said the document. Also, it noted, the anonymity of the blockchain in the latter instances could leave those accepting payments at a disadvantage.
"Many entities, particularly merchants, retailers, service providers, and other purveyors of goods and services, may be wary of accepting blockchain currency for products and participating in blockchaintransactions," the document noted.
If the method is brought to market by MasterCard, the blockchain transactions could speed up allowing cardholders to pay for things instantly using a fraction of their digital currency. Currently no products have been brought to market as of yet however.
According to Fundrat Global Advisors’ Tom Lee, this is still good news for digital currency. "It’s really validating the idea that digital money, or blockchain based money, is a valid form of transaction,” said Lee, who operates as managing partner and head of research at the firm.
Very much bullish on Bitcoin, Lee pointed to markets like Japan, who have taken a more favorable view on “digital money, or blockchain based money, being real transactions.”
Tuesday was also a day of celebration for crypto traders as Bitcoin passed $7,000 and held steady at $7,300, a 13 percent gain from a month ago.
All this could equate to some exciting times ahead for digital currencies and blockchain based currencies.
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