Credit card giant and digital payments juggernaut Mastercard has been taking an increasing interest in cryptocurrencies since last year. The digital payments company started as a visible cryptocurrency critique. However, as soon as its biggest rival, VISA announced support for crypto-related payments, Mastercard reevaluated its position on the matter.
Recently, the company filed for a trademark request related to 15 types of unique cryptocurrency-related services. The array of these services extends to meta-verse, fintech sector, digital asset payments, and other DeFi technologies. Mike Kondoudis is the leading lawyer at Mastercard who helped the organization charter these applications.
Mastercard Plans to Offer NFT-Based Services
Reflecting on the patent applications, Kondoudis told the media that it seems like Mastercard is planning to offer NFT-based services. He further explained that the consumers could also expect options like e-Commerce plug-ins for crypto-related payments and setting up crypto accounts within the Metaverse using Mastercard for transactions and making purchases.
He also told the media that Mastercard management emphasized adding a trademark claim for all the downloadable media files that also include the artwork. He shared that all the video, audio, content, and other design is under the ownership of Mastercard with the help of NFTs. He further said that the patent application includes a trademark request for e-commerce software that allows users to make payments to the merchants in the Metaverse.
Mastercard’s lawyer recently shared that the company is also planning to own every single performance, event, musical share, and other celebrations under the patent application. He explained that the company wishes to keep the material exclusive to the audience in specified online communities who have purchased access to get to these online events.
On the other hand, trademarks summation for NFTs has also shown a steady increase since last year. Kondoudis shared that the number has grown from 23 to 1967 since last year. MasterCard has also partnered with Coinbase to set up a new NFT marketplace where the buyers will be able to purchase, sell, mint, and hold their NFTs in the future. Coinbase consumers will be able to pay for their NFTs using Master debit and credit cards.