Top crypto exchange Binance has joined hands with credit card company Mastercard to form a new prepaid bitcoin rewards program for users in Brazil. Customers can now purchase everyday items and services with digital assets.
Binance and Mastercard… The Perfect Match?
The move is pushing the goals of bitcoin and its digital counterparts closer to being achieved. What many people likely forget is that while bitcoin and many of its crypto cousins have taken on either speculative or even hedge-like statuses in recent years, many of them were initially designed to serve as payment tools. They were built to push checks, credit cards, and fiat currencies to the side, but this has been a relatively slow journey given the volatility that continues to drag them down.
It is extremely hard to understand when bitcoin and its crypto family will go up or down when it comes to their prices. Many stores and companies have been reluctant to say “yes” when it comes to accepting crypto payments for this reason, and to a degree, we can’t blame them.
Consider the following scenario: someone walks into a store and buys $50 worth of merchandise with bitcoin. For one reason or another, the store doesn’t trade the BTC into fiat right away and about 24 hours go by. From there, the price of BTC goes down and that $50 becomes $40. The customer gets to keep everything he or she bought, but the store has lost money in the end. Is this a fair situation? Not everyone thinks so.
That’s what makes things like this new rewards program so important. They understand the initial purposes of bitcoin and digital currencies and are trying to transform them into usable tools that everyday people can benefit from.
Guilherme Nazar, general manager at Binance for Brazil, commented in a recent statement:
Brazil is an extremely relevant market for Binance, and we will continue to invest in new services for local users as well as contributing to the development of the blockchain and crypto ecosystem in the country.
Marcelo Tangioni – the country manager for Brazil at Mastercard – also threw his two cents into the mix, stating:
Brazilians are eager to embrace crypto beyond an investment asset.
The Exchange Is Presently Under Scrutiny
Binance – the most popular digital exchange by daily market cap – has come under fire in recent weeks due its alleged ties to Bitzlato, a now defunct crypto exchange in China founded by an alleged Russian criminal. The company was recently shut down by the Department of Justice (DOJ) after it was reported that the exchange initiated more than $700 million in illegal crypto trades.
Of that $700 million, nearly half that money was housed by Binance. While it hasn’t been reported that Binance engaged in anything illegal, the company has taken flak for holding the firm’s BTC funds.
