Mastercard goes Web3, soon you’ll be able to buy NFTs with debit and credit cards

Mastercard has been looking to join Web3 for a long time. In April, the international payment system made 15 trademark applications, revealing its plans for NFT-backed media, payment processing, and e-commerce transactions in the metaverse, marketplaces for digital goods, and NFTs.

Mastercard has officially announced that it works with Immutable X, Candy Digital, The Sandbox, Mintable, Spring, Nifty Gateway, and Web3 infrastructure provider MoonPay to enable non-fungible token (NFT) commerce without buying crypto first.

“We’re working with these companies to allow people to use their Mastercard cards for NFTs purchases, whether that’s on one of these companies’ marketplaces or using their crypto services. With 2.9 billion Mastercard cards worldwide, this change could have a big impact on the NFT ecosystem.  Buy the NFTs you want on the marketplace of your choice. No need to buy crypto first,” — says the press release.

Mastercard’s new NFT commerce has come at a time when NFT marketplaces have already generated more than $25 billion in sales in 2021, from art to sports to video games to collectibles to metaverse platforms. Mastercard is also expanding the adoption of Web3 — a new version of the internet based on blockchain. The company’s Web3 expansion is bringing its payment network to Coinbase’s new NFT marketplace, which opened to all Coinbase users in May.

“These integrations are designed to make crypto more accessible and help the NFT ecosystem keep growing, innovating, and bringing in more fans, ” — says the statement.

Earlier this year, billionaire investor and former Facebook CEO Chamath Palihapitiya predicted the downfall of Visa and MasterCard due to competition from Web3-based payment projects and cryptocurrencies.

“My biggest business loser for 2022 is Visa and MasterCard and traditional payment rails and the entire ecosystem around it,” — he said in an All-In Podcast release.

The second-largest payment system, Visa, also declared its interest in the digital economy and blockchain innovations like NFTs. In March, the company announced a new one-year initiative to help artists navigate Web3 features. Visa Creator Program is dedicated to art, music, fashion, and film entrepreneurs who want to accelerate their small businesses with NFT. The international payment system collaborated with Micah Johnson as the first Visa Creator.