Crypto-to-Fiat Patent Granted to Mastercard

The US Patent office has granted Mastercard a patent yesterday for a "method and system for linkage of blockchain-based assets to fiat currency accounts."

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This means Mastercard is getting closer to bridging fiat and crypto currencies within the mainstream payment sector for purchasing of goods in our daily lives. This is good news for increasing the adoption rate and usability of crypto worldwide.

The patent grants rights to have one account with fiat linked to another with a blockchain currency, and being able to receive or send transactions that would essentially rebalance your crypto account afterwards:

storing, in a first central account, a fiat amount associated with a fiat currency; storing, in a second central account, a blockchain amount associated with a blockchain currency; storing a plurality of account profiles, each profile including a fiat currency amount, blockchain currency amount, account identifier, and address; receiving a transaction message associated with a payment transaction, the message being formatted based on one or more standards and including a plurality of data elements, including a data element reserved for private use including a specific address and a transaction amount; identifying a specific account profile that includes the specific address included in the data element in the received transaction message; and updating the blockchain currency amount included in the identified specific account profile based on the transaction amount included in the data element in the received transaction message.

Mastercard claims users have increasingly preferred the anonymity of cryptocurrency to fiat. It also says some users have chosen to go with digital currencies in order to prevent fraud. But there are disadvantages that go with the advantages.

Mastercard takes issue with a lack of protection for the receiver of funds due to having to wait for the transaction to come in. Regular fiat payments via credit card happen almost immediately within seconds. Meanwhile, the new cryptocurrency technology is slower with some blockchains (like Bitcoin) having transactions that can take 10 minutes or more.

This makes paying for goods in real life cumbersome. Waiting at a retail store for your payment to be accepted is just annoying.

The complexity of using blockchain currencies makes them different from the simpler transactional payment methods that people are used to. Mastercard will address this onboarding issues and streamline adoption of cryptocurrency use by linking fiat and crypto. When you spend at a store, the transaction will be immediately approved, and then the funds from crypto will be adjusted later after the conversion of fiat to crypto is done through the delay of the blockchain technology.

But the patent doesn't say if this process will involve Mastercard having it's own blockchain for this to happen. It's even possible this goes nowhere, like is the case with many other patents. Seth Eisen, Mastercard’s senior vice president for communications, said to CNBC:

"We're consistently looking at ways to bring new thinking and new innovations to market to create value for us and our customers and cardholders. Patent applications are part of that process, taking steps to protect the company’s intellectual property, whether or not the idea ever comes to market."

Mastercard is one of the biggest investors in blockchain technology, along with IBM and walmart. This recent patent is just another in a series for Mastercard. Patents 20180181953 and 20180157999 were both granted in June. One is for anonymous blockchain transactions and other for a travel bidding itinerary system. They also have patents for verifying payment credentials, using blockchain technology, and another for authenticating coupons using a wallet address.

If you can't beat them, join them. When your old traditional financial system can't beat the new, you gotta adapt and integrate with it or risk being left behind. Mastercard is well on it's way to catching up and even staying ahead of the curve of the mainstream, ready for the future. These moves also help to bring cryptocurrency to the masses. That increasing popularity should signal an increase in the value of the crypto market as well.

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references:

• Method and system for linkage of blockchain-based assets to fiat currency accounts
• Mastercard Wins a Patent to Link Cryptocurrency With Fiat Accounts
• Mastercard has a new patent that could allow bitcoin transactions on credit cards

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