Rumours of a new MasterCard crypto wallet have appeared in the last few days. This speculation is largely due to some job adverts that appeared online. They show that the company is searching for executives who are blockchain experts.
What does this mean for cryptocurrency wallets industry? In particular, it is worth considering whether it may have an impact on the upcoming Facebook Libra project.
Three Job Adverts Placed
The MasterCard website has had 3 new job opportunities added to it. The payments technology company is looking for these people to fill senior positions in a blockchain team.
They are looking for a couple of directors. The first job titles mentioned is “Director, Product Development & Innovation – Blockchain Solutions Architect”. There is also one for “Director, Product Management – Cryptocurrency/Wallets”.
The third job is for a vice president to deal with the product management of blockchain. We can see on the adverts that the new recruits will be working in a “cross-functional team”. The team will be made up of areas such as Technology, Regulations, and Compliance.
They will be looking at developing new products and solutions. Indeed, a couple of the job descriptions talk about “wallet solutions” as being part of the blockchain work that they will be dealing with.
Will a MasterCard Crypto Wallet Be up Against Facebook’s Calibra?
It is worth noting that MasterCard is one of the 27 companies that make up the Facebook Libra project that includes the cryptocurrency wallet known as Calibra.
The Calibra wallet is regarded as being an initiative that could prove hugely disruptive to the credit card industry that is dominated by MasterCard and Visa. Could MasterCard be getting in and looking to influence the market by launching their own wallet to challenge Libra? It certainly looks like both firms coulsd have similar ideas on this.
The payments company has been working on blockchain projects for a number of years now. They already have a large team of blockchain engineers on board but the latest job adverts seem to be about bringing in leaders who can determine the overall MasterCard cryptocurrency wallet strategy.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that the appearance of a MasterCard crypto wallet would make a huge impact in the industry. The size and global reach of this company could very easily make it one of the most powerful wallet solutions on the market.
Being able to choose between Facebook and MasterCard crypto wallets – as well as existing solutions– would it easier for people to choose the right one for their needs. If cryptocurrencies reach the expected levels of mass adoption then we can expect other heavyweight firms to introduce their own wallets too.