Mastercard Now Allowing Cardholders to Buy NFTs on Several Marketplaces

Mastercard is partnering with multiple platforms including Immutable X, The Sandbox and MoonPay.

By Michael Bellusci

Jun 10, 2022 at 8:31 p.m. UTC

Updated Jun 11, 2022 at 3:27 p.m. UTC

Mastercard logos appear on credit cards arranged for a photo — Mastercard is giving cardholders the ability to purchase NFTs. (Getty Images)

Michael Bellusci

Michael Bellusci is CoinDesk's crypto reporter focused on public companies and digital asset firms.

Follow @mikeybellusci on Twitter

NFT transactions took another step into the mainstream as payments giant Mastercard (MA) said Thursday that its cardholders can now buy non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on various marketplaces without needing to first purchase cryptocurrency.

Mastercard is working with NFT scaling platform Immutable X, Candy Digital, The Sandbox, Mintable, Spring, Nifty Gateway and Web 3 infrastructure provider MoonPay on the new capabilities, according to the press release.
“With 2.9 billion Mastercard cards worldwide, this change could have a big impact on the NFT ecosystem,” according to Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercard’s executive vice president of digital asset and blockchain products and partnerships.
Mastercard recently surveyed a group of over 35,000 people in 40 countries and found that 45% had purchased an NFT or would consider buying one, the company said. In addition, Mastercard found that about half of those surveyed sought more flexibility and wanted to be able to pay with crypto for everyday purchases, or use a credit or debit card to buy an NFT.
The payments firm also said it would focus on customer safety and protecting user data throughout the process of purchasing an NFT.
In January, U.S.-based crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) said it was teaming up with Mastercard to make NFT purchases more accessible to a broader range of consumers.

DISCLOSURE

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.