{"id":89180,"title":"Mastercard expands cryptocurrency services, wallets and loyalty rewards","publisher":"Share Talk","author":"sharetalk","published":"2021-10-25T15:35:31+00:00","modified":"2021-10-25T15:35:31+00:00","canonical_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/mastercard-expands-cryptocurrency-services-wallets-and-loyalty-rewards/","markdown_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/mastercard-expands-cryptocurrency-services-wallets-and-loyalty-rewards.md","json_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/mastercard-expands-cryptocurrency-services-wallets-and-loyalty-rewards.json","category":"Blogs","categories":["Blogs","Fintech"],"tags":["Assets","Bakkt Holdings","BKKT","cryptocurrencies","cryptocurrency","Digital","loyalty","Mastercard","rewards","VISA","wallets"],"featured_image":"https://i0.wp.com/www.share-talk.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Stencil-Google-Chrome-2023-04-19-at-2.47.43-PM.jpeg?fit=1231%2C615&ssl=1","format":"news","language":"en-GB","content":"Mastercard Inc, (MA.N), announced Monday that it will allow its partners to enable their customers to buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrency using a digital wallet. It also plans to reward them with digital currency under loyalty programs.\n\nBakkt Holdings Inc (BKKT.N), the digital assets platform created by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE.N ) NYSE-owner, announced that it would offer these services to credit card giants.\n\nBakkt was founded in 2018 and went public through a $2.1 million merger with a blank check company. The shares of Bakkt rose 77% to $16.19 Monday.\n\nMastercard stated that its partners can offer customers the opportunity to earn and spend cryptocurrency rewards instead of loyalty points.\n\nThe company stated in February that it would start offering support for some cryptocurrencies on its network.\n\nLast year, the rival Visa Inc (V.N. ) had partnered to offer a credit-card that allows users to earn bitcoin for purchases.\n\nBitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency in the world, reached a record $67,016 last Wednesday after the launch of the first U.S. bitcoin exchange-traded fund. Its value has more than doubled this year."}