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A few years back in 2012, a new card network was launched in India as an alternative to Visa and MasterCard. It was named , which sounds like a combination of Indian currency ' ' and the verb ' '. Within just ten years, it became the biggest competitor in the Indian card market and captured in 2020. It became such a severe threat that Visa about the dominance of RuPay to the US Government. RuPay Rupee to pay 60% of the whole market share complained In 2022, when a majority of the population is using RuPay, completely dominating over Visa and MasterCard, a curiosity arises about the whole process. How did RuPay become so powerful in just a few years? The current article tries to discuss the same. Situation Before RuPay Visa and MasterCard were dominating in the Indian card markets before RuPay. However, they were only concerned with a small percentage of the Indian population, the upper class. Back in the day, they had support for only 55 banks in India, most of which were corporate or private banks. Until recently, the majority of India's population was unaware of such amenities, and even if they were, they couldn't afford them. RBI had mentioned in its 2009-12 about - a domestic card initiative. Then took over from that, renamed it RuPay, and started working on a domestic payment card that would act as an alternative for MasterCard and Visa. It was launched in March 2012 for public usage. vision paper India Card NPCI Before Diving Deep Let's understand a few terms and the working of a traditional card payment system. When you swipe a card in the EPOS system, many things happen in the background, and many parties participate in the process. Involved Parties Three main parties that take part in the transaction are: The bank where the customer has their account. It issues debit cards to its users and holds their funds. Issuing Bank : The bank that funds at the end of the transaction. It is the bank where merchants have their accounts. Acquiring Bank : acquires The card network company acts as an essential intermediary between the whole transaction. The big bulls in the business are VISA, MasterCard and RuPay. Card Networks : Transaction Process The transaction starts when the customer enters the correct password. Then the card network takes charge of the process, which can be summarized in three steps: The card company checks the status of the customer's account. If it is not blocked, empty or suspicious, authorization is considered successful. Authorization : Funds are captured from the customer's bank account, and the merchant is notified through the EPOS system. The deal between customer and merchant is considered done here, but the acquiring bank still has not received funds. Capture : Settlement is the process of transferring money from an issuing bank account to an acquiring bank account. Settlement usually occurs once a business day. At the end of the process, the merchant finally receives the money. Settlement : Merchant Discount Rate However, there is a catch. The merchant does not receive the total amount sent by the customer. During the payment, involved parties take a few percentages. This fee is known as the or . MDR is to blame if you are refused card payments in small businesses. MDR is determined by the type of card used. A debit card is charged 0.9%, and a credit card is charged anywhere from 1% to 3% of the total amount. Merchant Discount Rate MDR If a payment gateway like Stripe, Bill desk, or Razorpay is involved, it charges a small percentage. This charge is called a , usually 0.5% of the overall amount. Payment Service Provider Fee Simply put, when a customer buys something for 10,000 and pays with a card, the merchant will only receive 9,650 rupees. Implementation of RuPay Indian Government and NPCI saw major gaps in this system. The system was not wholly flawed but had major drawbacks and areas of improvement. A large population of India works in an uncategorized sector. They are daily wagers, day to day workers and vendors. Most of them can't even afford a bank account for multiple reasons: minimum balance constraint, complexity in the process of withdrawals and credit, to name a few. As per a , a total of 557 million Indian population was unbanked in 2011. report Even though VISA and MasterCard have a duopoly in card payments, they were partnered with only 55 banks in India. Most of them are private or corporate banks. There was no support for other banks whatsoever. NPCI leveraged these disadvantages and started working precisely on them. NPCI, RBI and the Indian government started zero-balance bank accounts for people who can't afford to put much money in banks. Until 2015, the Indian unbanked population was halved to 223million compared to 2011. People from the bottom of the pyramid were getting into finance and banking and benefiting from it. RuPay's MDR Policy When RuPay was launched, it had a fixed MDR of 90 Indian paise regardless of the amount to be transacted. It was a huge factor considering how much Visa and MasterCard used to charge. It became possible for everyone to accept card-based payments. A few years back, in late 2019, the finance minister announced the Zero-MDR policy for RuPay. That means no extra charge will be deducted from the transaction. Since then, More merchants have been encouraged to use it along with the existing UPI system with a Zero-MDR policy. Contribution of Indian Government The Indian government itself promotes RuPay. The government successfully encouraged the Indian population to have an active bank account through RuPay and other government schemes. This laid the groundwork for Indian citizens' financial inclusion and created a pipeline for the government to efficiently distribute schemes and services to people who would otherwise have had such opportunities. In just a few years, NPCI announced four more cards under RuPay. It gives you instant access to your bank account anywhere in India. And it has personal accident death protection and disability coverage for the customer. PMJDY Debit Card : A customer can perform multiple withdrawals and credits to cost-effectively manage the working capital limit. Mudra Card : It offers a cash withdrawal facility, and its transaction cost is also meagre. It was exclusively designed for farmers having a particular account. PunGrain Card : Again focusing on the farmers, Kisan card is a need-based timely credit system. Kisan Card : What Lies Next After being the largest in Indian markets, RuPay is now expanding internationally. RuPay has entered global markets in 2014 itself. RuPay has issued over 64 million cards until 2019. These cards are accepted by 1.8 million ATMs and 41 million merchants in 190 countries around the globe. Singapore, UAE and Japan are a few countries showing massive interest in adapting RuPay. Despite all of this, RuPay has not shown its presence in a few other markets. Even though it has acquired the most significant share in the Indian debit card market, it still falls far behind in the credit card market. It holds only around 20% of the Indian market, and Visa and MasterCard dominate credit cards. Farewell I came across this topic while researching the digital payment revolution in India for last month and became immediately interested in learning more. Let me know if you found this interesting or have any suggestions or improvements. I am most active on , , and . I also maintain a where I talk about web development, programming and general experience. my article Twitter LinkedIn Showwcase personal blog Happy swiping! 📇

RuPay: The Indian Card Payment Alternative Rivals Visa and Mastercard

Hello, everyone! My name is Maxim Bogun. I am a QA Automation Engineer at Wirex, a UK-based fintech company. We offer our clients the ability to use a debit card, linking it with cryptocurrency or traditional money, and paying for goods and services. So, the main part of my job  is to test the functionality related to the card transactions. For example, a user from France can add a Bitcoin account to a Wirex card, travel to Japan and pay with the card in a local subway, and the account will be debited with the equivalent of Yens in Bitcoins. So, let me tell you briefly what these transactions are, how they are performed, and how to automate the testing of financial transaction processing. Before we start, I'd like to highlight a bit of the terminology: Fiat currencies are traditional monies that exist in the real world and are generally accepted as a source of exchange, such as the dollar, euro, yen, etc. Such currencies have a central issuer, such as the state central bank. Cryptocurrencies are virtual currencies that, unlike traditional money, often have no central issuer and are based on a distributed ledger (blockchain) like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or a centralized ledger, for example, like Tether. stablecoins Visa and Mastercard are international payment systems that control 3/4 of all plastic cards in the world. A POS terminal is a device with an NFC chip at a store's checkout, which processes cashless payments made via a customer's card or a gadget. Acquirer (recipient) is a bank or other financial institution that makes mutual payments between sellers who accept cashless cards via POS terminals. The acquirer is the final recipient of the transaction. A few thousand years ago, financial transactions were much more straightforward - ancient people grew grain, someone went hunting. Then they conditionally exchanged meat for bread, and such a barter system of mutual settlements worked for a while. But what if the hunter no longer needed so much grain? Here, the fiat money comes into the spotlight. Fiat money is a universal means of exchange, which, thanks to the social contract, made it possible to disconnect buying and selling processes in time. In other words, with the invention of fiat money, people had the opportunity to sell their grain, put the money in their pockets, and spend it when needed instead of immediately and pointlessly exchanging grain for other goods. The production of fiat money, which is known as a national currency, is made by federal governments. Before the invention of plastic cards, the process of mutual payments was also quite simple. But the advent of payment systems, such as Visa and Mastercard, brought  more calculations than between two parties on the technical side in the transaction processing. Even though everything is effortless for the user, all they have to do is use their card to interact with the terminal and their money is immediately taken. Let's imagine an abstract fintech company that is the final recipient (acquirer) of a transaction. Let's see what happens when a user attaches a card to a POS terminal in a store. By the way, the same scheme is valid for transfers in any electronic payment system. As you can see, the transaction has a long way to go from the terminal to your servers and back. You may ask why there is an intermediary as a processing centre (Processor) and why you can't process messages from payment systems directly? The answer is a matter of practicality. The processor needs to get lots of licenses and certificates from Visa and Mastercard, have huge power capacities and backup data centres, and have a large staff of specially trained people to keep track of it all. It is much easier to put this "trouble" on someone else's shoulders and just be an acquirer. The acquirer must also be licensed by Visa and Mastercard and meet specific requirements, but all the complicated transaction processing work can be delegated to the processor. What does a money transfer look like in the real world? Any financial transaction must comply with the standard. All terminals, ATMs, banks, payment systems and processing centres organize their requests and responses into this format. ISO 8583 In short, it is a set of about a hundred fields, which in a form may look like this: deserialized Or like this in serialized: 02BC30323230FEFA44810EE0E48A0000000004020000313231313036343433313... In the original ISO message and all the documentation, these fields are called with numbers and letters, which look like this: conventionally, if 111.8 comes in, then DE39 should be 51. That's a fascinating story, trust me. Stages of Test Automation As you understand, only Neo from The Matrix would be able to test this manually, while an average person would take a week to analyze one of such requests and responses. That is where automation comes to the rescue. We at our team have divided it into several parts: Unit tests, which developers write Module and integration tests. These used to be written by developers without interaction with QA, but recently we've been trying to introduce a practice of grooming QA together with devs to think through the main cases, which helps developers when writing their tests End-to-end tests, in which QA write in a framework specifically designed for automation (which they develop themselves). We plan to cover major scenarios, but it's just physically impossible to cover everything. Each company can modify the transaction message in its own way, so there can be so many combinations of values of fields, some of which are optional. Also, companies often use the values at their own discretion, essentially changing the message as they want. How Transactions are Tested According to the scheme above, any transaction from Visa or Mastercard comes to us at the gateway from our processor. But in order to test, we want to send ourselves these incoming messages. So we need a simulator that can simulate any card transactions, "routing" them to our gateway as if they came from the processor that received them from the user. This allows us to write autotests for any scenarios. For example, if a user made a purchase in a store, then requested a refund, which was split into six parts, and then the store requested a refund on that refund. To test such a scenario we simply send ourselves this message chain and check if everything was handled correctly on our end. This process includes: Checking values from hundreds of fields (the ones where DE-39 should be 51) Checking the user's cash balances in our application at all stages, to a precision of 10 decimal places Verification of records in the user's transaction history Verification of all currencies involved in the conversion, if any Checking of all rates, which were used for conversion, accurate to one billionth of a penny Verification of the time taken by our system to process the transaction. Let’s look further at the transaction time. Each company must obtain their licenses to work with Visa and Mastercard, and Wirex is no exception. The speed and stability of money transfers is key to the reputation of payment systems, so there are requirements which company must meet. Visa and Mastercard constantly monitor all transactions. Firstly, any answer from our side to the payment system's request must come in a maximum of 2 seconds. Secondly, there must be a small percentage of rejected transactions because of our decision. That's why it is crucial to automate as many scenarios as possible and be sure that the system will respond to processing any of them quickly and correctly. Visa and Mastercard have strict requirements; if at any point the company does not meet them, the license is revoked. Automating fiat remittances testing As for automation, the entire QA backend is involved in developing the framework and writing autotests in our company. For example, I do it five days a week. We write them on .Net Core + NUnit. And on Fridays inside the Backend QA team, we do short sessions on sharing knowledge in automation, such as C# or new features of the product itself, which aren’t well known to those who have not participated in their testing. We do not create test cases for those tests related to transaction processing since it’s simply impossible to verify them "manually". Before each new task, tech-analysts or product owners update the specification in Jira, groom it, and then prepare tasks with a detailed description for developers. When the functionality is ready, it’s tested in a separate environment, and then the automation task is "raised" for QA, who writes the necessary autotests. After checking the pull-request with tests, new empty test cases are created in TestRail with names that match the names of tests in the code and status is set to Automated. We also perform obligatory regression testing to ensure that the new functionality does not affect the old logic. If any autotests suddenly stop working, the release is blocked until the reason is found. Next, QA gives approval, then the Head of QA approves, and only then does the release of new functionality happen. Features of creating autotests Autotests covering transaction logic for Visa and Mastercard are very similar. Sometimes it happens that the code is 95% identical. In the past, people just copied the code of a test, creating two classes and two separate tests with almost identical codes. As you understand, the amount of code grows considerably in that case, and when the time comes to change something, we have to fix two tests at once. We implemented an approach where all code for the test is written in a base class, while the tests themselves were declared in two other classes - one for Visa, the other for Mastercard, which were inherited from the base class. The base class itself has virtual properties that are overridden in the descendants. As a result, tests in most cases simply call the base class method, where all the logic was already implemented. Since Wirex is a global product, and each country has different regulatory requirements, this approach is especially useful when it is necessary to write tests for three different regions. Instead of copying code three times, we have just one method in the base class. As we have a microservice architecture, we decided to speed up our autotests for transaction checking by stopping any interactions with our public API. This approach allowed us to speed up the tests by almost half. In our tests, we now "go" directly to the internal API of those microservices responsible for card transactions and user accounts. And the public API is tested by other QAs in separate tests. Additionally, there's a feature that can have a negative impact on the stability of autotests. Because cryptocurrency rates, like BTC/USD, change rather quickly, it can often happen that there was one asset price at the beginning of the test, but by the end of the test, it had time to change. As a result, the test will fail with the error, saying that the customer's account balance does not match after the transactions. It turns out that the test is correct but becomes so-called "floating" (when the test result changes under the influence of an external factor). There are several options to handle this - you can use either cache rates or assign "lifetime" to each rate, so at the end of the test, we will check that the actual rate was used correctly, but it was changed just during the execution flow. As an option, you can implement a rate "freezing" functionality. You will likely want to implement this as a separate microservice, which will "live" only in a test environment so that there is no chance it will be released to Production, but this is a slippery slope. So, I tried to give a brief overview of the transaction structure from Visa and Mastercard, the testing approaches we use, and some of the pitfalls we faced when writing the autotests. Thanks to everyone who has read to the end.

How to Test Transactions From Visa and Mastercard in a Fintech App 

The race is on for using blockchain-based solutions for accelerating payments. In a world of finance where speed is the main competitive factor determining the appeal and loyalty of millions of users, every little edge comes in handy for increasing capitalization and prominence in the global arena. Visa and MasterCard are vying for supremacy with the likes of PayPal, constantly looking for advantages and new technologies to bolster their performance. The advent of blockchain heralded the start of a new race and all of the main market players rushed off to start developing and integrating solutions based on the new technology. And while the transactional volumes of the giants are growing, so is interest towards blockchain as a viable add-on to existing infrastructures, whose successful merger may well prove to be the decisive factor in winning the processing acceleration race. The latest statistics The general statistics show that the volume of transactions carried out by all of the main payment providers is growing. A recent by Statista shows that the number of purchase transactions worldwide in 2019 topped the 400 billion mark. The distribution by brand demonstrates a clear advantage for Visa, which has surpassed the 185 billion mark. It is followed by MasterCard at 131 billion. American Express closes the trio with 8.8 billion transactions in 2019. review The statistics also showed a clear preference among those polled in using online transactions for making payments. The numbers indicate that 44% of respondents prefer credit card payments, 32% prefer debit cards, and 14% opt for PayPal. Given that transaction volumes are growing year-on-year, it is clear that the popularity of online payments will increase along with it. The recent news coming from the main financial gateway providers is indicating that the adoption of blockchain-based transaction acceleration solutions is being leveraged as a powerful instrument for winning the race. The lay of the land PayPal is being seen as the main serious contender for the title of the most versatile payment instrument of the future. The statistics of the gateway that its volume of transactions has been steadily growing. Q2 of 2020 has seen an increase in transactions to as much as 225 billion, up from 190 in Q1. show The impact of the coronavirus on the volume of transactions cannot be downplayed, as the pandemic has in an explosive growth of online payments. It has also led to a corresponding increase in demand for digital payment facilitating services. The results were instant as almost 50% of all global shopping was redirected online and became considerably easier than offline shopping, encouraging shoppers to buy more from the convenience of their homes. resulted Such an increase in payments also led to heightened demand for cryptocurrencies. Statistics from indicated that the number of venues accepting cryptocurrencies has grown by 6.8% since the beginning of 2020. At the same time, MasterCard has seen its revenues drop to $3.34 billion, down 19% from last year. Visa was just as affected, its revenues dropping by 4% as a result of the pandemic. Coinmap.org Such negative dynamics have not left the mainstays indifferent as both are engaged in integrating cryptocurrency payment solutions and blockchain-based technologies into their traditional infrastructures. MasterCard is ahead of the race, promoting its Accelerate card program among exchanges and payment services. But Visa is not intent on being left behind the curve either and is even engaged in shaping cryptocurrency regulation by participating in the World Economic Forum, pushing recommendations to central banks to ensure the adoption of more crypto-friendly laws, and introducing proprietary instruments. Adoption underway Meanwhile, emerging companies are offering their own solutions for helping shoppers make use of crypto facilities. The Paxful P2P Bitcoin exchange platform is gaining momentum in the adoption race by offering Google Pay transactions for buying Bitcoin. Such a move made it possible for customers around the world to make use of debit and credit cards for buying cryptocurrencies and making purchases through Google Pay and Visa. Other companies making headway include – a cryptocurrency payment processing service that offers its business clients solutions for accepting cryptocurrencies at record low commissions. The company has already established its presence on the market as one of the largest providers of POS solutions for accepting cryptocurrencies for retailers. Over 50,000 Cyclebit mPOS terminals are currently in use by more than 10,000 businesses. Cyclebit Cyclebit’s flagship product – Cycle Online is precisely called upon to facilitate the transition of retailers into the new online payments environment. The innovative solution is tailored for e-commerce clients and allows them to accept cryptocurrency payments globally and receive funds in local currencies. The software gives users the opportunity to pay using BTC, BCH, LTC, ETH and other cryptocurrencies with no volatility risk. The tap2go application from CycleBit further enhances the UX in the e-commerce sector by turning any Android smartphone with an NFC module into a terminal for receiving contactless payments through Google Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. Considering that contactless payments from mobile devices account for more than 80% of all non-cash payments in Russia alone, the prospects for the adoption of such solutions seem broad. Considering that contactless payments are becoming an integral part of the modern world in 2020, Cyclebit quickly adapted to the changing market conditions under the influence of the pandemic, becoming one of the first companies to offer retailers multiple online payment solutions. “2019 was certainly a transformative year for cryptocurrencies and 2020 is certain to make the market grow even further. Cryptocurrencies are expected to become stronger as they operate globally at a time when most nations have closed their borders and are facing the dire consequences of the impact left behind by the Covid-19 crisis,” as stated by Daniel Bessmert, CEO of Cyclebit Group. Among the other market players eyeing the emerging payments revolution is CoinPayments, a  cryptocurrency payments processor, which has recently a strategic partnership with Shopify. Their cooperation is set to allow vendors to accept payments in over 1800 cryptocurrencies supported by CoinPayments. Adoption is already becoming a worldwide phenomenon as Slovenia has surpassed the 1,000 mark of locations accepting cryptocurrencies as means of payment. announced Next-gen payment solutions focusing on UX The need for a greater focus on the user experience is of top priority for payment provider services to ensure a smoother transition and adoption process for a blockchain-based infrastructure. Making cryptocurrencies more accessible and understandable for average users is now the main task beckoning before the main market players, pushing technical issues to the background.

Crypto Weekly #7: Visa, MasterCard, and PayPal Bet On Bitcoin Adoption

As crypto continues to move from the margins to the mainstream, companies like Mercuryo are pushing the boundaries of how we interact with digital assets. From payments infrastructure to pioneering new financial products, Mercuryo’s latest move, launching a self-custodial Spend Mastercard crypto debit card in collaboration with Ledger, is a bold step toward integrating crypto into everyday life. We sat down with Arthur Firstov, Chief Business Officer at Mercuryo, to discuss what this launch means for the future of crypto payments, lessons from TOKEN2049 in Dubai, and how the lines between TradFi and DeFi are blurring faster than ever. Mercuryo Ishan Pandey: Hi Arthur, it’s a pleasure to have you on HackerNoon’s “Behind the Startup” series. Can you tell us about your role at Mercuryo and what led to the vision behind launching the Spend card with Ledger and Mastercard? Ishan Pandey: Arthur Firstov: Thank you Ishan, it is a pleasure to be here. At Mercuryo, I serve as the Chief Business Officer, where I lead our strategic initiatives, partnerships, and business development efforts. Our goal has always been to build financial infrastructure that simplifies how people interact with digital assets and to enable DeFi and crypto-native products that can integrate with traditional systems without compromising on user sovereignty or compliance. The idea behind the Spend card came out of this mission to bridge usability and trust in crypto payments. Arthur Firstov: Mercuryo The opportunity to work with Ledger and Mastercard came at a time when users were demanding more secure and practical ways to use their crypto holdings for everyday transactions. Ledger brings unparalleled security through hardware-based self-custody and Mastercard brings a global merchant network that instantly adds utility to crypto assets. We recognized that to drive adoption forward, we had to offer a product that combined ease of use, strong compliance, and real-world utility without sacrificing the values that underpin the crypto ecosystem. The result is the Spend card, a self-custodial crypto debit card that allows users to spend Bitcoin and Ethereum at over 150 million locations globally. It works seamlessly with Ledger Live, so users retain full control of their assets while enjoying the simplicity of tapping their phone at a store. This is not just a product launch for us, it is a signal that crypto can evolve into a reliable medium of exchange, not just a speculative store of value. Ishan Pandey: The Spend card makes it possible to spend crypto like fiat while retaining self-custody. How are you striking the right balance between security and user experience? Ishan Pandey: Arthur Firstov: This balance is precisely what made the Spend card such a meaningful technical challenge and an exciting opportunity. On one hand, users want the simplicity and speed of fiat payments. On the other hand, crypto users expect full sovereignty over their funds, and rightly so. Our collaboration with Ledger made it possible to achieve both. With Ledger's security infrastructure, users hold their private keys and approve each transaction through Ledger Live. At no point does Mercuryo or any third party gain access to the assets. Arthur Firstov: From the user experience side, we had to ensure that this layer of security does not create friction. By issuing virtual cards that integrate with Apple Pay and Google Pay, we made sure that users can pay with crypto just as easily as with traditional debit cards. The card performs instant crypto-to-fiat conversions at the point of sale, meaning there is no need to pre-convert assets or manage balances across separate apps. It works with the same fluidity users expect from legacy finance tools. Security does not have to come at the cost of usability. With the Spend card, we have set a precedent for how secure self-custody can be paired with mass-market payment systems. It required careful integration between Ledger’s hardware security modules, our payment gateway, and Mastercard’s transaction rails. The result is a solution that feels native and safe in both the crypto and fiat worlds. Ishan Pandey: What were the major regulatory or technical hurdles in bringing this product to market, especially with Mastercard and Ledger involved? Ishan Pandey: Arthur Firstov: Bringing the Spend card to market meant navigating two very different regulatory ecosystems. On the crypto side, we needed to ensure that asset custody, KYC, and compliance mechanisms met standards in all jurisdictions where we operate. On the traditional finance side, working with Mastercard introduced an entirely separate set of requirements around card issuance, anti-money laundering frameworks, fraud prevention, and user protections. Each step had to be aligned between three very different technology and compliance stacks. Arthur Firstov: Technically, the biggest challenge was integrating Ledger’s self-custody infrastructure with Mastercard’s transactional network. This involved building a real-time bridge that allows a crypto asset to be converted into fiat the moment a transaction is made, without compromising the user's private key control. It also meant making the process invisible to the user. From a user perspective, they’re just tapping a card, but behind the scenes, there's a secure, near-instant orchestration of wallet signing, crypto conversion, and fiat settlement. We also had to implement rigorous testing, audits, and third-party assessments to meet Mastercard’s compliance thresholds. This was not just about plugging into an API. It required aligning security, risk modeling, and transaction flow design across all partners. Working with Mastercard and Ledger has been a masterclass in multi-stakeholder collaboration and has validated that crypto-native companies like Mercuryo can meet and exceed TradFi standards. Ishan Pandey: You chose to launch with Bitcoin and Ethereum. What’s the reasoning behind this decision, and what’s the roadmap for supporting other digital assets? Ishan Pandey: Arthur Firstov: We chose Bitcoin and Ethereum because they represent the highest user adoption, liquidity, and infrastructure maturity in the crypto space. From a security and compliance standpoint, starting with these two assets allowed us to build a streamlined user flow and simplify regulatory approval processes. These assets also have the broadest wallet support and are commonly held by both retail and institutional users, making them the logical starting point for a payment product. Arthur Firstov: That said, we absolutely plan to expand asset support. Stablecoins are a priority on our roadmap, especially euro- and dollar-pegged options. They align well with everyday spending behavior and remove volatility risk for users. We are also exploring support for other high-utility assets from ecosystems like Solana, Polygon, and Layer 2 Ethereum rollups, as long as we can ensure the same level of security, real-time liquidity, and compliance readiness. Our goal is to make the Spend card a true multi-asset gateway for Web3 users. This involves not just adding tokens, but ensuring the backend infrastructure, liquidity providers, and compliance layers scale with each addition. We are approaching this incrementally to avoid compromise in user experience or security. Ishan Pandey: Mercuryo had a strong presence at TOKEN2049 Dubai. What key trends or signals stood out to you at the event? Ishan Pandey: Arthur Firstov: Our event TOKEN2049 was more than just a networking session, it was a strategic dialogue about adoption of crypto products in real world and how Mercuryo can enable these use cases through our day-to-day payment products. With a major protocols, we discussed GTM campaigns which will lower the for the end user, which could drastically improve efficiency for micropayments and reduce frictions for self custodial usage. With DeFi infrastructure protocols like 1inch, Turnkey, the conversation revolved around enabling crypto projects any sizes with “essentials” like wallet infrastructure, swap, on ramps, and Spend cards. The goal is to enable both crypto platforms and their users with the best things that exist in DeFi. Arthur Firstov: And with Ledger, our discussions went deeper into expanding the self-custody experience beyond just payments. We’re looking into how users can earn, save, and potentially borrow against their assets while staying in control of their keys. These initiatives are still in early stages, but what’s clear is that collaborative infrastructure between crypto-native projects is the key to delivering reliable, scalable Web3 services. TOKEN2049 Dubai provided a clear view of where the crypto industry is headed, and the shift from infrastructure building to mainstream usability was very apparent. There was a noticeable increase in interest around on- and off-ramp services, payment integrations, and real-world asset tokenization. Developers and founders are no longer just focused on launching protocols but on making them usable for a broader, non-technical audience. Another trend we observed was the convergence between TradFi and DeFi. Institutions are increasingly open to partnering with Web3 companies, not just in theory, but in actual product development. At Mercuryo, we had several conversations with both fintechs and legacy banks who are exploring crypto as a real part of their payment stack. TOKEN2049 gave us validation that what we are building is not a niche use case, but part of a much larger financial evolution. Lastly, security and compliance are becoming less of a barrier and more of a competitive edge. Projects that prioritize regulatory readiness are being welcomed into partnerships and integrations that were previously off-limits. Our approach to combining Ledger’s security model with Mastercard’s compliance framework was well received and set a blueprint for others looking to offer hybrid financial products. Ishan Pandey: You hosted an ecosystem event with industry leaders like Polygon Labs, 1inch, and Ledger. Can you share any upcoming collaborations or initiatives from those conversations? Ishan Pandey: Arthur Firstov: The partner lunch at TOKEN2049 was more than just a networking session, it was a strategic dialogue about the next phase of crypto adoption. With major Layer 1’s, Layer 2’s and stablecoin issuers we discussed ways to integrate faster, lower-cost transactions into our Spend card backend. This could drastically improve efficiency for micropayments and reduce gas costs when we expand to more assets. Arthur Firstov: With 1inch, the conversation revolved around leveraging their aggregation protocols to optimize crypto-to-fiat conversions. The goal is to make sure users get the best available rate every time they spend, without needing to think about liquidity or slippage. We are already exploring how this could be integrated directly into the conversion engine that powers the Spend card. And with Ledger, our discussions went deeper into expanding the self-custody experience beyond just payments. We’re looking into how users can earn, save, and potentially borrow against their assets while staying in control of their keys. These initiatives are still in early stages, but what’s clear is that collaborative infrastructure between crypto-native projects is the key to delivering reliable, scalable Web3 services. Ishan Pandey: Crypto salaries and real-world spending are on the rise. How does the Spend card fit into this broader shift in user behavior? Ishan Pandey: Arthur Firstov: The rise of crypto salaries is a strong signal that digital assets are no longer just speculative investments but legitimate forms of income. As more people earn in crypto, they naturally expect to spend it without friction. The Spend card fits perfectly into this shift because it gives users a direct and secure way to use their crypto for everyday purchases, from coffee shops to airline tickets, without needing to convert back into fiat manually. Arthur Firstov: We’ve observed this behavioral shift particularly among remote workers, freelancers, and Web3 developers. These individuals often get paid in crypto and prefer to keep control of their earnings. By integrating with Ledger and maintaining a self-custodial design, we are not just enabling spending, we are empowering users to stay flexible without giving up utility. Furthermore, the ability to use crypto directly for payments strengthens its role as a medium of exchange. It also adds pressure on merchants and payment providers to accept and process crypto more natively, which drives the flywheel of adoption. The Spend card is not just a product but a response to a cultural shift in how people want to earn, save, and spend. Ishan Pandey: Looking into 2025, what’s Mercuryo’s broader strategy for bridging crypto and traditional finance? Ishan Pandey: Arthur Firstov: Our strategy for 2025 revolves around infrastructure unification. We are focused on building payment rails and liquidity systems that allow users and businesses to move between fiat and crypto as easily as they switch between currencies today. This includes expanding our on-ramp and off-ramp solutions, deepening compliance infrastructure, and working with more traditional financial institutions to integrate crypto payment capabilities. Arthur Firstov: One of our biggest goals is to enable crypto platforms and their users with a complete loop of payment use cases from on-ramps, to spend and to lifestyle perks and benefits. We have support of major blockchain foundations and stablecoin issuers that also want to bring their products to masses through Mercuryo. At the core of our strategy is the belief that the future of finance is not about replacing TradFi or DeFi but connecting them. We want to make digital assets usable, intuitive in real world without compromising on the core values of decentralization. The Spend card is just the beginning of a broader mission to grow levels of financial inclusion. Don’t forget to like and share the story!

How Mercuryo and Ledger Are Reinventing Crypto Payments with a Self-Custody Debit Card 

Mercuryo এবং Ledger কিভাবে একটি স্ব-পরিচালিত ডেবিট কার্ডের সাথে ক্রিপ্টো পেমেন্ট পুনঃপ্রকাশ করছে

Cómo Mercuryo y Ledger están reinventando los pagos criptográficos con una tarjeta de débito de auto-custodia

Miten Mercuryo ja Ledger ovat keksimässä uudelleen kryptomaksuja itsehoitokortilla

Bagaimana Mercuryo dan Ledger Menciptakan Pembayaran Crypto dengan Kartu Debit Self-Custody

MercuryoとLedgerが自給自足デビットカードで暗号化支払いを再発明する方法

«Қазақтелеком» АҚ-ның телекоммуникациялар желісін қуаттылығы 1 млн. абонент Next Generation Network (NGN) технологиясына көшіру

Mercuryo와 Ledger가 자기 관리 데이타 카드로 암호 지불을 재 발명하는 방법

Jak Mercuryo i Ledger odnawiają płatności kryptograficzne za pomocą karty debetowej

څنګه Mercuryo او Ledger سره د ځان د ساتنې د ډاټا کارت د کریپټ پیسو په څیر reinventing دي

Sidee Mercuryo iyo Ledger waxaa loo reimay Crypto Payments oo ka mid ah credit card self-custody

วิธีการ Mercuryo และ Ledger Reinvent การชําระเงินแบบเข้ารหัสลับด้วยบัตร Debit Self-Custody

Mercuryo ve Ledger, Kripto Ödeme Kartı ile Nasıl Yeniden Geliştiriliyor

If you’re not living under a rock, you’ve probably noticed that crypto cards have been gaining serious momentum lately. According to , Visa announced that cryptocurrency-linked card usage hit $2.5 billion in its first fiscal quarter of 2022. CNBC While much of crypto's appeal is in its investment potential, it still has a use case in transferring value. In that same interview to CNBC, Visa CFO Vasant Prabhu noted that card users are treating their crypto-linked cards as general-purpose accounts, using them to make everyday purchases. "To us, this signals that consumers see utility in having a Visa card linked to an account at a crypto platform. There’s value in being able to access that liquidity, to fund purchases and manage expenses, and to do so instantly and seamlessly,” he added. Let’s dig in and see if there's an actual value proposition behind all that hype. Simplifying the Crypto Lifestyle Crypto cards are a game-changer for those who earn their money in cryptocurrencies but still need to spend in fiat. They offer a seamless solution that simplifies life for crypto earners: be it traders, miners or crypto enthusiasts in general. With a crypto card in hand, you can easily convert your digital assets into fiat currency and make purchases at any merchant that accepts credit cards. You can avoid a hassle of transferring funds from crypto wallets to bank accounts or dealing with complicated and lengthy exchange processes. Crypto cards bridge the gap between the crypto world and the traditional financial system, providing a convenient, efficient, and, most of all, quick way to access your crypto earnings while navigating the everyday world of fiat transactions. Data from crypto.com Visa Card holders backs this up, that the majority of crypto card purchases are made for everyday essentials and mundane goods. Groceries remain the top spending category, accounting for 51% of all crypto spent on daily goods. Fashion, including clothing and footwear, has experienced the strongest spending growth at 50%, followed by transportation and recreation with a spike of 46%. Notably, out-of-home consumption has seen a significant boost, with ticketing for concerts, arts, exhibitions, and sports events surging by approximately 133%. Travel (32%) and dining (17%) have also witnessed notable growth. Among online transactions, eCommerce remains dominant, representing an average share of 53% of spending. revealing Valuable Tool for Crypto Earners For people like traders, miners, and other types of crypto earners, cards serve as an indispensable tool. If a person relies solely on cryptocurrencies for their financial needs, they won't be limited in their ability to make purchases or payments in the traditional economy. Crypto cards provide the necessary liquidity and flexibility for individuals to transition smoothly into a crypto-centric lifestyle. With features like ATM withdrawals, cashback rewards, and enhanced security measures, crypto cards, now more than ever, provide a friction-free way to interact with the world using crypto. The Road to Mass Adoption Now, you might be wondering, when will crypto cards reach widespread adoption? It's a valid question. While crypto cards have gained significant traction, we're still on our way to mass adoption. As the crypto market continues to mature, and regulations become more favorable, we can expect an increase in the adoption of crypto cards. According to Crypto.com, their Visa Card holders their cards in over 100 countries and regions worldwide, with 66% of travel spending taking place within the EU. Still, we have a long way to go, and things like increased awareness of cryptocurrency, decreased volatility in the cryptocurrency market, lower fees associated with crypto cards, and more merchants accepting crypto payments will definitely help on the road to universal acceptance of crypto cards in the future. have been using The Future of Crypto Cards The future of crypto cards looks incredibly promising, with MasterCard their crypto card partnerships. The market already experienced explosive growth, and to increase at a CAGR of 58.6% up to 2029. With advancements in technology, we can anticipate enhanced security features, wider acceptance at mainstream retailers, and seamless integration with decentralized finance platforms. Crypto cards also serve as a new on-ramp for the crypto market, attracting more casual users and integrating them into the ecosystem, helping with the overall growth of the market, which is to reach $4.94 billion by 2030. The convenience they provide is tangible already, and they serve as a stepping stone towards realizing the dream of cryptocurrencies becoming widely accepted and recognized as a legitimate form of currency, rather than solely being viewed as an investment opportunity. expanding projected projected TL;DR Crypto cards have gained significant momentum, offering a practical solution for individuals earning in cryptocurrencies who need to spend in traditional fiat currency. With the ability to convert digital assets into fiat and make purchases at any merchant accepting regular payment methods, crypto cards bridge the gap between the crypto world and the traditional financial system. While mass adoption is still on the horizon, increased awareness, decreased volatility, and wider merchant acceptance will contribute to ubiquity of crypto cards. Even now, crypto cards are not just simplifying life for crypto earners but also acting as a stepping stone toward the wider recognition of crypto as a legitimate form of currency.

Simplifying Life for Crypto Earners: The Power of Crypto Cards

The U.S. authorities are at war against crypto, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) leading the charge. The two leading companies targeted are the Kraken exchange and Paxos. Kraken and Paxos are two crypto companies that are among the oldest and most well-established in the industry and have also met all regulatory requirements. Kraken This is a US-based exchange that has to comply with all manner of regulatory requirements. Kraken aimed to join Coinbase by going public last year but shelved its plans as the crypto market plunged. Kraken meets all the regulatory requirements as it ensures transparency and security. It issued proof of reserves in 2014, submitted to a full audit last year, and it’s also never been successfully hacked. The IRS has just demanded it to hand over data about its users. The Exchange recently reached a settlement with the SEC to pay a 30 million dollar fine and shut down its crypto staking service for U.S. customers. The SEC accused Kraken of failing to list crypto assets as securities. The regulatory body classifies proof of stake cryptos as securities. According to the SEC, Kraken did not disclose the risk they were getting into by staking to the public. Kraken was required to fill out a form that communicated the risks and rewards of staking to the public. Kraken cleared the air by citing that unclear regulatory guidance from the SEC and others has made it impossible for US-based crypto companies to know what they can and can’t do. They were using the enforcement approach that is causing severe damage to the crypto industry in the United States. According to Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, enforcement regulation doesn’t work; it forces companies to go offshore, which is what happened with FTX. Paxos Paxos may be less well known than Kraken, but it too has been around for a long time, having been founded in 2012. It has done all regulatory requirements to get licenses, which is why it works with big companies such as Mastercard, Binance, Paypal, and Bank of America. According to their website, their regulatory first approach is non-negotiable. There were rumors that the New York State Department of Financial Services(NYDFS) was planning to hit Paxos, but the SEC had got in there first with a warning that it would take legal action. Paxos now has 30 days to respond and persuade the SEC not to take matters any further. The SEC is pursuing Paxos because of unregistered Securities, in this case, the BUSD stablecoin that Paxos issues on behalf of Binance. The Wall Street Journal classifies the BUSD as an unregistered security. The NYDFS has ordered Paxos to stop issuing BUSD. This may be a move by the SEC to get Binance or a crackdown on stablecoins. If it is the latter, it means that Circle and Tether should brace themselves. Paxos still has a chance to continue with its application with the National Trust banking Charter. The OCC regulates banking entities in the U.S. There are fears that a concerted effort is underway by the current U.S. Administration to exclude the crypto industry from the banking sector. What does that mean for the U.S. and crypto industries? Even though the SEC’s jurisdiction may not stretch beyond U.S. borders, it will be a big blow to any crypto company, given the size and importance of the U.S. market. It got a lot harder for U.S. crypto holders to participate in staking. As much as Coinbase still offers its staking services, there is a chance that the SEC will come after them too. There will also be fewer crypto projects in the U.S. as many companies consider the U.S. crypto-unfriendly. Also Published Here

US Authorities Have the Crypto Industry Under Siege

The crypto industry, being an amazing alternative to the traditional centralized financial system, has been gaining great momentum lately. The number of people using crypto has been rapidly increasing. In order to stay up-to-date with the trend, many shopping services, businesses, and large institutions have to adapt by introducing crypto into their businesses. Even governments are considering making crypto its legal tender (like El Salvador did with Bitcoin) or creating their own digital currencies (CBDCs). Thus, cryptocurrencies are now at the stage of mainstream adoption. Some of the latest most talked about adoption cases include crypto integration by PayPal, Visa, Tesla, Pornhub, etc. However, there are many other institutions such as banks, payment services, and entertainment platforms that also boast about their implementation of digital currencies. Let’s review some of the recent crypto adoption cases. JPMorgan Opens Access to Six Crypto Funds The biggest US bank by assets, JPMorgan quietly started giving its customers access to half-a-dozen crypto institutions’ trust funds earlier this year. Without any public announcement, the bank has allowed its wealth management clients to use the following crypto funds: Grayscale Investments’ Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, Bitcoin Cash Trust, the Osprey Bitcoin Trust, Ethereum Trust, Ethereum Classic Trust, and a new Bitcoin fund New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG). Apparently, JPMorgan didn’t want to make a big fuss about the news as its CEO Jamie Dimon has publicly spoken out about his disapproval of Bitcoin. However, later he admitted that if JPMorgan customers were interested in using digital currencies, and they are, the company should provide such an option. Visa Launches Its New Crypto Consulting Services The world payment giant has already implemented several features in the push for cryptocurrency adoption during the past year. Visa, together with its rival MasterCard, sees the adoption of digital currencies as one of the most promising paths for their development and expansion. Only last week Visa has its new project supporting digital currencies – crypto consulting and advisory services. As a part of the company’s consulting and analytics division, it will help users find their way in the crypto world, from developing business strategies to learning about NFTs. announced PayPal Expands Its Crypto Services PayPal has also been on the way to adopting crypto. Even though its former CEO Bill Harris called Bitcoin a scam project, the company has changed its stance completely since then. Last year, the payment platform made the first step of adopting digital currencies by its U.S. customers to buy, sell, and hold crypto thanks to their new service. This summer, PayPal the same option to its users from the U.K. It looks like the company intends on expanding its crypto services even more. For example, last month PayPal the “checkout with crypto” feature for its merchants. allowing offered enabled Mastercard Opens Crypto Access to Its Clients Mastercard has also been leading cryptocurrencies into mainstream adoption this year. Last winter, the payments behemoth that it would integrate several digital currencies into its network, which would make the use of crypto much easier for Mastercard customers. announced Besides, this fall, Mastercard that it would allow banks and merchants on its network to offer crypto services. This way, Mastercard clients will have even more access to digital currencies. confirmed Apart from that, last month, the payments platform that it would launch crypto-friendly cards in cooperation with its three partners in the Asian Pacific region. declared BBVA Switzerland Adds Ethereum to Its Crypto Range The Swiss franchise of a Spanish banking giant is on its way to adopting crypto as well. This summer, after six months of testing, BBVA Switzerland Bitcoin into its trading and custody services for the bank’s private clients. The feature proved to be successful, so the company didn’t stop there. included This week, the Swiss division of BBVA announced that it now to add Ethereum to its network. By expanding its crypto portfolio, BBVA will become the first traditional bank in Europe to allow the use of ETH on its network. The bank also revealed that it would add even more digital currencies to its platform in the near future. plans Tesla to Start Accepting Crypto Payments Again One of the world’s most prominent electric vehicle manufacturers Tesla has been exploring the possibility of accepting crypto in payments. At the beginning of this year, the company $1.5 billion in BTC and allowed its customers to pay in this currency. bought However, in May, Tesla suspended the option of paying in Bitcoin expressing concerns over mining’s negative effects on the environment. Later, though, the company that it considers accepting crypto payments again, but only if renewable energy is used for mining Bitcoin. Apart from BTC, Tesla might start accepting other digital currencies such as Dogecoin, which has been previously hyped by Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk. confirmed Pornhub Premium Can Now Be Bought Only with Crypto Financial institutions are not the only ones who understand the importance of adapting to the rapidly developing world of crypto. Many entertainment platforms have also started accepting digital currencies. For example, Pornhub, one of the world’s most visited websites for adults, started accepting digital assets back in 2018. After Visa and Mastercard cut merchant services for Pornhub due to the allegations against the website’s abusive content earlier this year, crypto was the only option for buying a premium account. Even though Pornhub’s traffic has significantly dropped since the incident happened, the adult video behemoth still has billions of users who might now be more motivated to use crypto. left MicroStrategy Acquires Almost 9k BTC in Q3 The business-intelligence software vendor MicroStrategy is now one of the world’s largest public owners of Bitcoin with more than 14,000 BTC in its holdings. This fall MicroStrategy that it had acquired 9,000 BTC in Q3, making its total Bitcoin’s holdings amount to 14,000 BTC or around $7 billion. Knowing the total MicroSrategy market capitalization of $7.4 billion, one can understand that most of the vendor’s money is now held in BTC. confirmed Morgan Stanley to Offer Access to Bitcoin Funds Morgan Stanley became the first large U.S. bank to its wealthiest clients to access Bitcoin funds. The three digital currency institutions Morgan Stanley has become partners with are Galaxy Digital, Mike Novogratz’s crypto firm, and a joint effort by FS Investments and NYDIG. The option was introduced in March of this year. enable Last month, Morgan Stanley a comprehensive crypto guide targeted at its wealth management clients. The company has also recently a special crypto research team. So, it is obvious that the bank plans on exploring digital currencies deeply. published established Goldman Sachs’s Support of Cryptocurrencies Another large American investment bank to support digital assets is Goldman Sachs. After Bitcoin was added to its network, the company that it also plans to allow its clients to trade with Ethereum. announced Unlike other financial institutions that remain suspicious of cryptocurrencies, Goldman Sachs fully supports digital asset development. The bank’s officials even positive predictions for some of the most prominent cryptos last month. made Bottom Line As we can see, many of the world’s largest banks, as well as payment and entertainment services are trying to adapt to the use of digital currencies as best as they can. Even the most skeptical ones can’t deny the growing popularity of digital assets and dare to embrace the crypto space. My personal belief is that it is still only the beginning. In the near future, cryptocurrencies will probably be as accessible and widely used as their fiat counterparts, if not more. Pauline Shangett is the Chief Business Development Officer in . She has extensive experience in music marketing and promotion, a career she pursued before entering into the crypto space in 2018, where she’s stayed ever since. Pauline’s favorite things include decentralization, crypto mass adoption, marketing, videogames, and tattoos. ChangeNOW

Mass Adoption of Cryptocurrencies Among Large Institutions: Top 10 Cases

What Role are Banks Playing in Blockchain-Based Payment Systems?

Hi Rossen, welcome to our series “ .” Please tell us about yourself and the story behind Skrill? Ishan Pandey: Behind the BigTech has been around for 20 years now, providing millions of users with a digital wallet service. We are truly global, with a very rich feature set helping users pay online, send and receive money, store and spend their cash, and get exposure to digital assets. Rossen Yordanov: Skrill I joined Skrill in 2010, when we were called Moneybookers, and have been part of the team responsible for driving the adoption of our services ever since. Then, around 2017 I got very interested in crypto, and this interest has only increased over the years. Elon Musk’s recent U-turn on Bitcoin is causing a lot of controversy in the cryptocurrency community. What are your views on Bitcoin mining and the amount of electricity it consumes? Ishan Pandey: Obviously, there are issues with having an asset tied to massive amounts of carbon-intensive computing. However, there are different ways to look at energy consumption. One is the amount of energy, another is the type of energy used. Rossen Yordanov: I think with regards to Bitcoin – there is a lot that can improve and will improve, particularly in regards to the type of energy used. There are strong opinions in the space that Bitcoin mining can act as an economic battery and support the transition to more renewable energy sources, by way of making them more commercially viable. I find this very interesting. Also – not all cryptocurrencies will require much power. There are developments coming on Ethereum, for example, which will reduce energy consumption dramatically over there. Skrill is a leading digital wallet provider and a giant in the e-payments market. Please tell us about why Skrill is entering the cryptocurrency industry and the company’s purpose? Ishan Pandey: We started out in the crypto space in 2018, by offering users a very easy way to engage with crypto. Users can download the app, fund their account and choose which crypto assets they’d like to buy. Rossen Yordanov: Skrill users can convert 40 different traditional currencies into Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, 0x, Stellar Lumens, EOS, Tezos, OMG Network, Cardano, Chainlink and we are adding many more very soon. Unlike many wallets, users can take advantage of over 100 different convenient deposit methods which include credit cards, bank transfers and local payment options. Also – there are nice features like conditional orders and crypto-to-crypto trading which other wallets lack. For crypto, we see a real opportunity to make investing more accessible for consumers. Plus, even more importantly – to improve the utility that cryptocurrencies have, by providing a bridge between crypto and traditional finance. Giving people who have crypto the opportunity to easily use it in our environment will be very big. Ethereum and Bitcoin transaction fees are touching $39 to 18$, respectively, which is a considerable barrier for micro-payments and transactions. What are your views on the rising transaction fees and possible solutions? Ishan Pandey: Firstly, there’s scaling solutions coming to Ethereum, and I believe things there will change a lot, for the better over time. With Bitcoin, similarly, there are applications built around lightning network which are very fast and cheaper. Rossen Yordanov: That said – I still do not believe that Bitcoin & Ethereum will be used for micropayments, or generally anything similar to what Visa or Mastercard do anytime soon. There’s a difference between a transactional layer and a settlement layer, and I believe cryptos, for now, are more suitable for the settlement layer. And for other things, which are not necessarily related to payments, too, of course. Skrill recently added Cardano to its platform. According to you, what is going to propel the widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies? Further, what are the risks that merchants should be aware of when they accept cryptocurrencies? Ishan Pandey: Indeed, and Cardano is a very interesting project, with a massive global community and an amazing team of academics. It still remains to be seen, however, what solutions they will bring over to the space, in my opinion. Rossen Yordanov: That said – with regards to adoption, I think that the main ingredients needed are utility and simplicity of user experience. Crypto has been very useful for people to speculate, invest, and generally earn money in the past years. But also, as of recently - we are seeing some very cool use-cases beyond that purely speculative aspect like super quick decentralized borrowing and lending for example, or NFTs for sports moments, and art. I believe that when these use cases are also delivered with a UX that people are broadly comfortable with, adoption will totally take off. Then, about merchants accepting cryptocurrency, I believe most merchants do take the route which is to not take the cryptocurrency themselves, but rely on a payment provider. In this way, the risks around safety, custody, price fluctuations are very much mitigated for the merchant, which is a great solution for them. Another important aspect is KYC and generally – being compliant, as a cryptocurrency address doesn’t have the attributes of, for example, a bank account like name and country but on the positive side the traceability of past transactions is amazing and there are great tools for reducing associated risks. That can also be done by the payment provider, and we are looking forward to helping merchants with that in the future. With the public’s rising interest in the crypto world, many users and now moving towards crypto trading give rise to frauds and instances of money laundering. How is Skrill tackling the issue of illicit transactions and money laundering associated with digital assets? Ishan Pandey: We operate a zero-tolerance policy towards illegal transactions or unlawful practices, so security, fraud and the prevention of abusive use of our products are a top priority. As a regulated financial institution, Skrill is governed by strict due diligence procedures. Rossen Yordanov: We have a comprehensive compliance framework in place to prevent the abuse of our services and we work hard to make that framework as strong as possible.  We also have monitoring systems to identify suspicious activity and if we detect anything suspicious we take appropriate action which includes reporting it to and co-operating with the relevant authorities Recently, there has been a massive uproar in the crypto market wherein people have purchased digital art using non-fungible tokens (NFTs). What is the future of NFTs in the cryptocurrency market and is it the next big thing? According to you, what is driving crypto’s value in 2021? Further, what are your views on NFT art and its valuation? Ishan Pandey: Everybody's talking about NFTs. You have your fans, and your haters. But really, you have to look somewhere in the middle. Rossen Yordanov: NFTs today are mostly digital collectibles. We know what happened with beanie babies. We understand that a G.I. Joe vintage doll might be worth thousands of dollars to somebody, and maybe five dollars to somebody else. So we can apply all of that ambiguity to NFTs as well. We don't have to argue that NFTs are inherently worthless, and that they’re a scam, or that the whole concept is ridiculous. We don't do this with other kinds of collectibles. We have divergent communities that see things in terms of their own value consensus. That's okay with NFTs, too. The great thing though about NFTs is there is provability of the provenance and the scarcity of the item in question. So that’s a great upgrade for the world of art and collectibles, and I think that more and more assets will be digitalized that way in the future. More – NFTs make it possible for creators to collect commission on future sales of their work, which is outstanding for the creator economy. So – I do think that NFTs are one of the things which are driving things forward in 2021, together with Decentralized Finance (lending, borrowing, yield-generating and other smart-contract protocols). The number of Bitcoin addresses is increasing, which is a standard measure of adoption. Transactions on some of the extensive networks, such as Ethereum, are witnessing the same trend. Do you think we will see more and more fintech companies expanding to the cryptocurrency market? Further, what are your views on companies holding digital assets on their balance sheet? Ishan Pandey: We absolutely will see more fintech companies expanding cryptocurrency operations, especially because they're doing that according to the demand and interest of consumers. Rossen Yordanov: I support companies holding cryptocurrencies, with one very important disclaimer – again, you have to plan and be very prepared for volatility. As long as a company has a very high tolerance towards volatility (which can come with a smaller allocation, or a generally longer-term view and plan), I do believe that this is a route that can be taken and can be long-term lucrative. The DOGE coin memes floating around the internet and Elon Musk’s Twitter jokes about it and the current price rally surrounding it is currently one of the most talked-about topics in crypto space. Do you think that these types of social trends can lead to mass adoption of cryptocurrencies? Ishan Pandey: So this is an excellent example of what you were touching on in your last question. There is entirely too much subjective value in Dogecoin. If everybody's looking at its value to change based on what someone somewhere says on Twitter or on TV, that's not a solid foundation. Hardly any investor would argue for that. It's just not sustainable. Having said that, the market, and frankly many markets have been crazy, and if people want to buy a digital coin with a dog’s face on it, they can totally, and will probably do that. I personally watch from the sidelines on this one, and do not think it’s great for cryptocurrencies’ image in general. Rossen Yordanov: Due to highly volatile prices and attempts by large companies to join the market, cryptocurrency has continued to make headlines this year. What new trends can we expect to see in the future moving forward? Ishan Pandey: We also already saw the first country to approve Bitcoin as legal tender – in El Salvador. Maybe that’s another trend? People are already speaking of Paraguay, Mexico as possible next ones. At the same time, the situation in the US doesn’t seem to be as positive as some thought it would be by now, and a Bitcoin ETF still doesn’t seem to be imminent. If this happens though, that’s big too. I know from conversations with people in the space that institutional inflows to Bitcoin have decreased, but there are more waves to come – there’s much of it in the pipeline, it just takes time. Rossen Yordanov: Also, I expect that fintech will continue to open up to crypto in a big way, and we will see a general convergence and integration between fintech and crypto companies. The spree of acquisitions/mergers has already started. We at Skrill have a lot of exciting things on our roadmap both in terms of making exposure to more crypto assets ever easier and in terms of increasing the real-world utility of crypto for people. And, generally, use-cases built on blockchain will continue to emerge. The future is sunny, with occasional storms, as is customary for the crypto space. Disclaimer: The purpose of this article is to remove informational asymmetry existing today in our digital markets by performing due diligence by asking the right questions and equipping readers with better opinions to make informed decisions. The material does not constitute any investment, financial, or legal advice. Please do your research before investing in any digital assets or tokens, etc. The writer does not have any vested interest in the company. Ishan Pandey.

"BTC or ETH Micropayments Are Still Not On The Same Level As VISA or Mastercard" - Rossen Yordanov

Although cryptocurrencies have been around for more than ten years and Bitcoin was first introduced in 2009, there is still a lot of skepticism around the crypto industry. Despite the market’s annual capitalization growth, many institutions in traditional finance do not recognize the role of digital assets in the global economy. However, this paradigm is starting to change. As you can see in the chart below, the number of blockchain wallet users worldwide has grown significantly since 2016. Moreover, the global economic crisis and high inflation of the fiat currencies in 2020 have forced people to look for new financial tools and strategies. Thus, the number of blockchain wallet users has reached 50.71 million. Source: statista.com In addition, hundreds of platforms for crypto trading have been founded. Such European exchanges as Coinbase, EXMO, and Kraken have millions of active users and million-dollar monthly trading volumes. No doubt that the interest in digital assets is growing. We are experiencing governments of major countries such as the UK and USA enforcing laws to regulate the crypto market. Many trustworthy exchanges including mentioned above Coinbase, Kraken, and EXMO are aiming to comply with the regulatory standards. The same goes for titans of the traditional finance industry. The crypto media is bursting with news on such companies as PayPal, Visa, and Western Union actively exploring and investing in the crypto market. Crypto vs. Fiat To understand the reasons why more and more finance giants are actively investing in the blockchain technologies, we need first to determine the key differences between fiat and crypto. Decentralization As the illustration above indicates, one of the main differences between cryptocurrency and a fiat asset is decentralization. Fiat currencies are issued by the government of a particular state and are often regulated by the central banks. The crypto assets are decentralized and cannot be controlled by any organization in the world. Emission Another key factor is emission. We have already established that the state’s central bank issues fiat currencies. It means that the state can print an unlimited amount of fiat currencies based on the economic situation. Emission of Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, is, on the other hand, strictly limited. Currently, 18 out of 21 million coins have been mined, and by 2036 more than 99.2% of all Bitcoins will be discovered. Consequently, the inflation rate of the cryptocurrencies is generally low. As for the fiat assets, high inflation is a regular issue. Capitalization Although the crypto market is not even close to the fiat market’s volumes, the numbers don’t lie: the industry is growing. Besides the growth of the crypto wallets users, the total capitalization of the crypto market is increasing. Source: coinmarketcap.com As the chart above shows, since 2014, the total crypto market capitalization has grown to 250 billion dollars. Of course, these numbers are incomparable to the capitalization of fiat currencies. For instance, the USD capitalization alone is higher than the total cap of the crypto market. Source: fiatmarketcap.com Volatility One of the main reasons cryptocurrencies face so much criticism is volatility. Many argue that Bitcoin and other altcoins cannot be considered a stable investment because of the price fluctuations. Source: charts.woobull.com Although Bitcoin’s volatility index is higher than that of such fiat currencies like USD and EUR, the chart shows that emerging currencies and oil also have high volatility. There is no doubt that crypto technologies changed traditional finance’s perception and is becoming an important part of the global economy. Increasing capitalization and the public’s interest in cryptocurrencies force many finance companies to invest in blockchain technologies and enter the crypto market. Blockchain — a technology of the future We have already shown that more and more attention is brought to the crypto industry in general. On the example of major financial companies, including Visa, PayPal, and Western Union, we will illustrate the integration of cryptocurrencies in the global financial life. Visa Visa was one of the first international corporations that began investing in the crypto industry. In 2018 Visa offered product developer positions for the crypto department. It became clear that big finance companies are starting to take the crypto industry more seriously. The same year the first crypto debit cards began to appear. The two good examples are MCO Visa Card by Crypto.com and Flexible Crypterium Card. The former cannot be bought with money. To get an MCO card, the company offers to lock from 50 to 50.000 MCO tokens. This debit crypto card can be very beneficial for Crypto.com users as they can receive cashback and special bonuses. Source: crypto.com As for the Crypterium Card, it became the number one cryptocurrency card. People from all over the world (178 countries) can order Crypterium card to pay with cryptocurrencies in everyday life. It is important to note that the main currency of Crypterium and MCO Visa Cards is the US dollar. All cryptocurrencies are being converted into USD at the moment of purchase. It is a live example of how crypto assets integrate into the global financial system. Source: crypterium.com This tendency of partnering with blockchain platforms to issue crypto debit cards is continuing now. For instance, in 2020, Visa partnered with a FinCEN-registered crypto exchange CoinZoom and a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Eidoo. However, Visa’s involvement with the crypto market did not limit to partnerships with promising blockchain projects. In May 2020, USPTO (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) announced that Visa corporation applied to develop a digital currency using the blockchain technologies. It will include such central banks’ assets as the US dollar, euro, pound, and yen. The centralized computer receiving requests containing the serial number and denomination of physical currency will be used for this technology. According to the USPTO , “the central entity computer causes removal of the physical currency from circulation in a fiat currency system.” The main goal of this digital asset is to replace cash transactions. We are looking forward to seeing if this patent by Visa will revolutionize the finance system. filing PayPal Many may be surprised to see PayPal in our list as this payment system did not support the blockchain technologies and was quite skeptical of crypto wallet users. However, the dynamics are changing. The company’s first involvement in the crypto industry goes back to 2014. Although there was a lot of skepticism surrounding the emerging world of blockchain, in September of that year, PayPal entered into a partnership with major crypto platforms: Coinbase, BitPay, GoCoin. Nevertheless, starting in 2018, the corporation made several investments in the blockchain projects. For instance, PayPal became an investor for Cambridge Blockchain that aimed to give users more control over their crypto assets. The payment system also became one of the founders of the Swiss blockchain project The Libra Technologies. However, in 2019 the company officially withdrew from the association focusing on developing its own projects. Even more attention to PayPal’s plans on crypto was brought in the summer of 2020. According to the anonymous sources of Coindesk, the payment giant is planning to list Bitcoin on its platform, meaning that more than 300 million users will be able to buy and sell Bitcoin directly via PayPal without third parties. The crypto community has also noticed that the payment system has opened several positions for blockchain developers. According to , one of the job offers for Crypto Engineer included this description: Cointelegraph ”The person will be responsible for “new initiatives for PayPal global with a focus on agility, time-to-market, and innovation. The role includes designing, developing, and maintaining key crypto products/features targeted towards availability, performance, and scalability of PayPal services.” As it turns out, the rumors surrounding PayPal’s plans to explore the crypto world were true. According to the to the European Commission in March, the company is taking “unilateral and tangible steps to further develop its capabilities in this area.” letter The entire crypto community is looking forward to seeing what PayPal is going to offer in the near future. Western Union There is not much history between Western Union and blockchain technology. However, it may change soon. In June 2020, the information on the possible takeover of MoneyGram by Western Union has been circulating in the media. It is believed that the payment giant has already made an offer. How is it related to cryptocurrencies? First of all, MoneyGram uses blockchain for fiat transfers. In addition to this, MoneyGram is the partner of Ripple, one of the most popular crypto platforms with their own coin. Taking this into account, this merger can be the beginning of Western Union’s relationship with the cryptocurrencies. Although neither party has confirmed the rumors, the experts argue that the takeover is likely to happen. Mastercard Mastercard also belongs to the finance companies that are quite skeptical about cryptocurrencies and their role in the financial system. For example, in one of the interviews, Mark Barnett, President of Mastercard Europe, revealed that he doubts that blockchain and cryptocurrency can change the existing payment system. On the other hand, he believes that this technology can be used in other industries: “I think it [blockchain] can most likely be used in digital identification - for example, to identify a person or for valuable commodities trading,” stated Barnett. He also added that it would be an overstatement to say that Mastercard is working with blockchain. Nevertheless, it was recently announced that Bitpay would partner with Mastercard to issue a prepaid crypto card after the contract with Visa expires in December 2020. To conclude Although cryptocurrencies emerged only ten years ago, their popularity is rising quickly. The number of crypto wallet users and the total cap of the market are growing each year. Such attention from the public forces traditional finance corporations to recognize the importance of blockchain technologies despite the skepticism. The integration of cryptocurrencies in the largest payment systems has already began. Such companies as Visa, PayPal, and Western Union are actively exploring the crypto market and investing in blockchain development technology. Although these are just baby steps, it is an undeniable proof that the dynamic is changing. Even the traditional finance representatives are starting to acknowledge the role of cryptocurrencies in the financial system. There is no doubt that we will see more interesting partnerships between crypto platforms and finance giants in the future. Disclaimer: This material is not sponsored by any organization mentioned in the article.

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