On Thursday, September 16, the company\u00a0announced\u00a0that it had created its first-ever NFT in partnership with the renowned football coach Jos\u00e9 Mourinho, who is also a Mastercard global ambassador. This unique NFT is an animated digital football with Jos\u00e9’s signature on one of the panels.<\/p>\n
The company’s U.K. branch made this announcement. It included a raffle for cardholders in the United Kingdom to win the company\u2019s first NFT.<\/p>\n
According to the company, the experience will be in English and is free to book, and is available until September 30. Cardholders based in the U.K. can\u00a0sign up\u00a0from now till that date for a chance to win.<\/p>\n
Additionally, only one winner will be selected as there will be only one NFT. Details of how to receive the NFT will be shared by Mastercard’s sponsorship team, via email after the prize draw.<\/p>\n
The NFT will be hosted on a server owned by the company and backed by their proprietary technology.<\/p>\n
MasterCard And Its Digital Assets Journey<\/h2>\n
The Financial Services company entered the crypto space last year. Since then, it has made big moves in crypto and blockchain integrated services. The company acknowledged that digital assets are becoming a more important part of the payments world.<\/p>\n
Related Reading |\u00a0Real Adoption: How Will Mastercard\u2019s Crypto Acceptance Affect Bitcoin Price?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n In 2020, Mastercard announced the expansion of its cryptocurrency program, making it simpler and faster for partners to bring secure, compliant payment cards to market. This effort was to aid adoption and create innovative experiences in the crypto space. The company teamed up with\u00a0Wirex\u00a0and BitPay to create crypto cards that allow people to transact using their cryptocurrencies.<\/p>\n In a bid to make crypto more accessible to everyone, in March 2021, Mastercard and Wirex officially launched\u00a0the Mastercard debit card in the U.K. and EEA, as well as the rewards program across the globe.<\/p>\n Total crypto market cap rises to $2.17 Trillion | Source: Crypto Total Market Cap from TradingView.com<\/p>\n In July this year, Mastercard\u00a0announced\u00a0the launch of a corporate program, Start Path, for Blockchain and crypto startups.\u00a0Start Path\u00a0started with seven global crypto and digital assets startups that focused on solving a unique industry challenge. It has a location in every region.<\/p>\n Still, in July, it\u00a0announced\u00a0the creation of a simplified payments card offering for cryptocurrency companies. It said that it will “enhance its card program for cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges, making it simpler for partners to convert cryptocurrency to traditional fiat currency.”<\/p>\n Related Reading |\u00a0Mastercard Furthers Investment Into Crypto Card Integration<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Also, just this month, the company made a big bet on crypto by buying blockchain analytics startup CipherTrace. On September 9, the payments giant announced\u00a0it entered into an agreement to buy CipherTrace for an undisclosed amount.<\/p>\n \u201cDigital assets have the potential to reimagine commerce, from everyday acts like paying and getting paid to transforming economies, making them more inclusive and efficient,\u201d said Ajay Bhalla, president, Cyber & Intelligence at Mastercard. \u201cWith the rapid growth of the digital asset ecosystem comes the need to ensure it is trusted and safe. Our aim is to build upon the complementary capabilities of Mastercard and CipherTrace to do just this.\u201d<\/p>\n The creation of this NFT is Mastercard’s most recent move in the digital assets space.<\/p>\n Other financial services providers are also making moves in the space. Last month, Visa purchased its first NFT. It later went on to release its NFT whitepaper.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n