Mastercard has gotten closer to cryptocurrencies recently, but if users expect to use their debit cards to pay for coffee, there is bad news. Ann Cairns, executive vice president of Mastercard, said at a recent conference that Bitcoin is too volatile for the company.
Earlier this month, Mastercard actually said it will integrate some digital currencies into its payments. This, according to ZyCrypto, would have allowed approximately one billion Mastercard users to use their cryptocurrencies to pay around the world.
At the time, the company stated that: “Mastercard does not want to recommend the use of crypto. But simply allowing companies, merchants and customers to transfer digital value - cryptographic or traditional - as they wish.
Would a coffee cost 40% more? No thanks!
However, according to Cairns, the New York giant has no plans to actually integrate Bitcoin. Speaking at the Future of Money conference, Cairns criticized the use of bitcoin for payments, due to the long confirmation times.
Cairns told the audience that: “Bitcoin does not behave like a payment instrument. It is too volatile and it takes too long to transact ”.
In addition, he added: “So if you and I go get a cup of coffee and I decide to pay in bitcoins, our coffee could cost me, I don't know, 40% more - and it takes 10 minutes to actually settle. transaction".
While it may have exaggerated the volatility, Bitcoin is indeed a volatile currency. In the past few days, its price has fluctuated from $ 51.266 to $ 44.710, a 12% change. Access this link to follow the quotation of the world's largest cryptocurrency in real time.
Bitcoin is a valuable asset, not a currency
Cairns went on to claim that it sees Bitcoin as an asset class, making comparisons to gold. This confrontation has persisted over the years, with Bitcoin becoming known as "digital gold".
In a recent report, JPMorgan revealed that Bitcoin is effectively competing with gold as a safe haven. All of this has been widely supported by companies like MicroStrategy and Tesla who have invested billions of dollars in cryptography.
According to the bank's report, investors are moving towards Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation and an alternative to the depreciation of the dollar. The bank believes that if it could detect a fraction of the gold market appeal, Bitcoin could rise to $ 146.000.
“Bitcoin's competition with gold has already started in our minds. Considering how large the financial investment in gold is, a flock of gold as an "alternative" currency implies a big upside for bitcoin in the long run. "
Others like Meltem Demirors, CoinShares' chief strategy officer based in London, believe Bitcoin will outpace gold. He recently claimed that Bitcoin's market cap will far exceed that of gold. This is despite the fact that the market capitalization of gold is over 10 times greater than that of Bitcoin at the moment.
