Mastercard Files For Blockchain-Related “Crypto Credential” Trademark

According to USPTO filing discovered by patent attorney Mike Kondoudis, under the heading “Mastercard Crypto Credential,” Mastercard intends to develop software that simplifies cryptocurrency and blockchain -related transactions between financial institutions. This initiative will establish a network that connects diverse virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to facilitate smooth and seamless crypto transactions between them.

#Mastercard is continuing its move into #crypto!

The payment processor has filed a trademark application claiming plans for

▶️ Software for crypto + blockchain transactions
▶️ Interconnecting virtual asset service providers for crypto transactions#Web3 #DeFi #Cryptocurrency pic.twitter.com/Pz1m5gau10

— Mike Kondoudis (@KondoudisLaw) June 19, 2023

The trademark application hints at Mastercard’s provisioning of identity management and authentication APIs that would likely enable financial institutions to perform certain verifications as part of the exchange of virtual assets (e.g., fungible cryptocurrencies or other token types). Although it’s challenging to accurately read between the lines of a trademark application, the filing specifically refers to “customer metadata.”

This may indicate that Mastercard is entering the cryptocurrency exchange business where financial institutions are facilitating the exchange of virtual assets between their respective customers. An example of this could be a bank that has issued a Mastercard credit card to one of its customers and a merchant, represented by a different bank, who wants to accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment from that customer.