Bitcoin Surpasses 52 Million Won... Payment Companies Show Interest

Mastercard Plans to Use Virtual Currency as a Payment Method

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin has surpassed the 52 million KRW mark. Following global payment company PayPal, global credit card company Mastercard has also decided to use cryptocurrency as a payment method, drawing significant attention from payment companies towards cryptocurrencies.

According to the domestic cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, as of 10:47 AM on the 12th, Bitcoin rose to 52,006,000 KRW. It first exceeded 50 million KRW on the 9th and surpassed 52 million KRW within three days.

Mastercard announced that it will start using cryptocurrency as a payment method from this year, increasing payment companies' interest in cryptocurrencies. According to MarketWatch, a financial news outlet, on the 10th (local time), Raj Dhamodaran, Vice President of Mastercard, stated in a blog post, "We plan to enable some merchants to accept cryptocurrencies directly," and explained, "We will allow customers, merchants, and businesses to transfer the value of digital assets as they wish."

According to Mastercard, customers and merchants will be able to transact directly with cryptocurrencies without converting them into traditional currencies. Last year, Mastercard launched cryptocurrency payment platforms Wirex and BitPay along with cryptocurrency debit cards, but the platforms were criticized for inefficiency because they converted cryptocurrencies into traditional currencies before transferring to Mastercard. Mastercard stated, "We will focus on customer information security and compliance procedures and select cryptocurrencies that provide stability by being used as a means of consumption rather than investment."

Meanwhile, another payment company, PayPal, has presented a vision to become a key platform for the circulation of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). According to CoinDesk, a cryptocurrency-focused foreign media outlet, Dan Schulman, CEO of PayPal, said at an investor day event, "PayPal's digital wallet will become a means for CBDC circulation." PayPal plans to offer a digital wallet service called 'Venmo' starting in the first half of this year.

PayPal has been providing cryptocurrency trading services since October last year. Schulman said, "The cryptocurrency trading service has received great response," and added, "As a result, the fourth-quarter earnings last year tripled compared to the same period the previous year."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.