MasterCard pays lobbyists to focus on Bitcoin
Will we ever pay with bitcoins by using our credit card? MasterCard is officially paying lobbyists to focus on Bitcoin. A few days ago, Coindesk reported on the first Bitcoin debit card being made by Bitcoin startup Xapo. In the article, it was rumored Xapo was tied to Mastercard in this venture. Soon after publishing, the article was updated with an official notice from Mastercard stating the credit card company had no ties to Xapo or Bitcoin whatsoever. It seems this story is not entirely true, at least not when it comes to the Bitcoin part. Paying for lobbyists. As most of you will....
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Julian Hattem at The Hill reported Tuesday that US federal lobbying disclosure reports show MasterCard is paying its lobbyists to focus on Bitcoin. Five lobbyists from Peck Madigan Jones were looking into “Bitcoin and mobile payments,” the quarterly report read. You can read the report here. This means MasterCard is officially the first company to lobby Captiol Hill for anything Bitcoin related. And MasterCard has a contentious past with cryptocurrencies. Wired reported last week that Xapo was about to release a Bitcoin debit card that would work on MasterCard networks, but Hattem reported....
Startup OneBit is developing a Bitcoin wallet app that lets users pay at any store with contactless mobile payments via the MasterCard PayPass payment network. OneBit securely converts bitcoin on the fly at market rate into any major local currency using BitPay, and pays the merchant via their NFC payment terminals. OneBit will permit users to pay at any MasterCard PayPass-accepting merchant worldwide, with zero fees. "The magic that happens underneath" is done by BitPay, which converts the OneBit user's bitcoin to the local currency of the merchant, and MasterCard, which actually sends....
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has published four applications filed by MasterCard related to its work with blockchain and distributed ledger tech. The four applications, all published on 24th November, focus specifically on payments and transacting. Steven Charles Davis is listed as the sole inventor on three of the four applications, while the last also names Ashish Raghavendra Tetali as an inventor. In sum, the proposed patents suggest that MasterCard is at least weighing the question of how blockchain-based digital currencies could be integrated into its own systems. The....
While other financial establishments such as VISA are experimenting with bitcoin and its blockchain technology, MasterCard has shifted its focus to biometric data security. In an attempt to create a passwordless credit card transaction settlement process, MasterCard is set to develop a system that approves online purchases using facial recognition technology. Ajay Bhalla, in charge of innovative security solutions for MasterCard, said: MasterCard has partnered with every international smartphone manufacturers and developers, including Google, BlackBerry, Apple, Microsoft and Samsung to....
Why do these Young Turks ladies dare to speak about a subject as complex as cryptocurrencies without doing ANY research? In the following video, both Ana Kasparian and Francesca Fiorentini read a New York Times article interpreting it as fact, while giving the most inane commentary you could imagine. To make things worse, they try to be sarcastic and humorous and fail completely at that too. Related Reading | Crypto Needs Regulation If It’s Going To Survive, Says SEC Boss Their main thesis is that crypto lobbyists are influencing bills and legislation while at the same time trying to....