Mastercard Wins Patent for Speeding Up Crypto Payments

Mastercard is looking to improve crypto by designing a payments system that will link accounts holding both fiat currency and cryptocurrencies.

AccessTimeIconJul 17, 2018 at 4:00 p.m. UTC
Updated Aug 18, 2021 at 9:27 p.m. UTC

Presented By Icon

Election 2024 coverage presented by

Stand with crypto

Mastercard won a U.S. patent on Tuesday for a method of speeding up cryptocurrency payments.

The document, published July 17 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), explains that though cryptocurrencies have "seen increased usage over traditional fiat currencies by consumers who value anonymity and security," the wide disparity in payment processing times between the two classes of assets puts cryptocurrencies at a "disadvantage."

  • Bitcoin Mining in the U.S. Will Become 'a Lot More Decentralized': Core Scientific CEO
    13:18
    Bitcoin Mining in the U.S. Will Become 'a Lot More Decentralized': Core Scientific CEO
  • Binance to Discontinue Its Nigerian Naira Services After Government Scrutiny
    05:10
    Binance to Discontinue Its Nigerian Naira Services After Government Scrutiny
  • The first video of the year 2024
    04:07
    The first video of the year 2024
  • The last regression video of the year 3.67.0
    40:07
    The last regression video of the year 3.67.0
  • "There is a need to improve on the storage and processing of transactions that utilize blockchain currencies," the patent claims.

    It goes on to explain:

    "It often takes a significant amount of time, around ten minutes, for a blockchain-based transaction to be processed ... Conversely, traditional fiat payment transactions that are processed using payment networks often have processing times that are measured in nanoseconds … Therefore, many entities, particularly merchants, retailers, service providers, and other purveyors of goods and services, may be wary of accepting blockchain currency for products and participating in blockchain transactions."

    To reduce these transaction times, the company would be offering a new type of user account able to transact in cryptocurrencies through existing systems for fiat currencies. This account would link a series of profiles able to identify a user's "fiat currency amount, a blockchain currency amount, an account identifier and an address."

    The transactions themselves would use the fiat currency's payment rails and security features, but each transaction would represent a cryptocurrency.

    Mastercard also adds that by processing transactions made with cryptocurrencies in this way, "payment networks may be able to evaluate the likelihood of fraud and assess risk for blockchain transactions using existing fraud and risk algorithms and information that is available to payment networks, such as historical fiat and blockchain transaction data, credit bureau data, demographic information, etc., that is unavailable for use in blockchain networks."

    Indeed, this is not the first time Mastercard has expressed interest in addressing consumer protection in the space of crypto, having applied for a separate patent last year looking at building refund services for cryptocurrency transactions.

    image via Allmy / Shutterstock

    Disclosure

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

    CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of the Bullish group, which owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish group equity-based compensation. Bullish was incubated by technology investor Block.one.


    Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.