Mastercard CEO: Crypto still has a long way to go

According to Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach, a bad year for crypto could mean it will take a little longer for digital currencies to become widespread. He also stated that cryptocurrencies still have a long way to go before becoming mainstream.

This year has been highly volatile for the entire crypto complex, which consequently has held back its wider development.

Rising interest rates hammered the stock prices of emerging cryptocurrency platforms like Coinbase and Robinhood. At the same time, mass layoffs at these companies are in full swing, and higher rates have also had a big impact on digital asset prices from bitcoin to dogecoin.

Miebach added that the industry needs to sort out regulatory and compliance issues before the mass crypto adoption takes place.

Despite the current situation, in October Mastercard introduced a new program called Crypto Source. The program allows financial institutions to bring secure crypto trading capabilities for their customers.

Miebach also added that there is a question of compliance with regulatory requirements, scalability of the technology, ensuring predictability of the user experience. The answers to these questions will probably not be found in the next 6 months, but Mastercard remains optimistic and continues investing.