Coinbase, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchange platforms has partnered with Mastercard, a global payments and credit card company to introduce credit card payments in the upcoming Coinbase NFT Marketplace.
According to the company, the partnership with Mastercard is to simplify users’ experience in the NFT marketplace by allowing millions of people access the Marketplace to mint, purchase, showcase, and discover NFTs. The transactions would be classified as ‘digital goods’.
The goal is to allow non-crypto natives to get into NFTs without using a wallet, buying Ethereum or other tokens, but rather make use of their credit cards. This announcement was made on Coinbase and Mastercard’s official blog pages.
Speaking on the Coinbase partnership with Mastercard, Prakash Hariramani, Coinbase senior product director for payments and commerce said, “we’re doing an industry first and taking the lead in the crypto economy for this new and growing class of NFTs.
“Our mission at Coinbase is to increase economic freedom in the world. And we believe by enabling more people to join the creator economy and profit from their work, NFTs have an important role to play in this mission.”
On the Mastercard’s partnership with Coinbase, Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercard executive vice president of digital asset and blockchain products said, “we’re working to make NFTs more accessible because we believe tech should be inclusive. When more people are included in new technologies, it spurs innovation, helps economies grow, and expands choices for consumers.”
Dhamodharan believed that the current process of purchasing NFT on the marketplace is too rigorous to non-crypto enthusiasts, “if you want to buy an NFT — such as a digital art piece — you first need to open a crypto wallet, buy crypto, then use it to purchase an NFT in an online marketplace. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts are used to this process. But for most people, it’s not simple, it’s not intuitive. We think it should be much easier. That will ensure NFTs can be for everyone.” He said.
Dhamodharan further assured of data security to ensure that Mastercard customers’ data is protected and the NFTs they buy are secure.