Mastercard refutes report of ‘slamming the brakes’ on crypto partnerships

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) announced a new partnership to launch a branded debit card with a leading Latin America crypto exchange, which refutes a news report that the company was stopping its activities in the digital asset space.

Earlier this week, a Reuters report sourced from unnamed “people familiar with the matter” claimed that the Purchase-headquartered Mastercard and its rival Visa (NYSE:V) were “slamming the brakes on plans to forge new partnerships with crypto firms after a string of high-profile collapses shook faith in the industry.”

However, Mastercard has teamed with the crypto exchange Bitso to launch a debit card in Mexico. According to a report by Coindesk, the exchange “launched a progressive rollout for over 100,000 users who had requested the card in Mexico after enabling the card in November for a group of customers to get feedback.”

Mastercard also told CoinDesk it planned to “work with partners to bring relevant payments solutions and programs to market,” which is a direct contradiction of Reuters”™ reporting. Visa also told several media sources that it had no plans to freeze its crypto activities.