Mastercard to Launch an Ethereum-Based Blockchain App Store

Mastercard, one of the largest credit card giants, is yet again pushing boundaries between centralized and decentralized financial systems. Its latest contribution to the crypto space is a “Multi Token Network,” or MTN for short, planned to launch in beta over the following months. The Mastercard’s blockchain store will be backed by Ethereum architecture, and its offerings will consist of regulated financial apps.

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Mastercard App Store

Illustration: Lenka T.

Mastercard Continues Its Crypto Journey

Mastercard’s interest in the digital asset space doesn’t seem to be fading. After successful projects such as Mastercard NFTs or Crypto Secure, this payments giant is eagerly working on a new blockchain-based app store for regulated financial apps. The Multi Token Network app store will come to fruition as part of the Ethereum system and will be the first marketplace for financial applications.

The Multi Token Network works similarly to an app store you have on your phone today. But instead of offering exposure to the newest games, educational, lifestyle, or social media apps for everyday use, Mastercard’s app store is aimed at blockchain developers.

By launching a blockchain-based marketplace, Mastercard aims to provide developers with access to Mastercard’s tools for building new financial applications. In addition to that, this industry leader in payments will make a private version of the Ethereum blockchain available to developers for future app development.

Mastercard

Photo illustration: Freepik

According to a Mastercard blog post, this service provider is preparing to roll out the beta version of its MTN app store in the UK sometime in the summer.

Why Is Multi Token Network an Ambitious Project?

In a blog post promoting the MNT launch, the executive vice president of Mastercard highlighted the scope of this project.

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Our vision for MTN is to provide a set of foundational capabilities designed to make transactions within the digital asset and blockchain ecosystems secure, scalable, and interoperable — ultimately enabling more efficient payment and commerce applications.

Mastercard executive vice president and head of crypto and blockchain Raj Dhamodharan writes in a Mastercard blog post.

Dhamodharan also added that the Multi Token Network is one of Mastercard’s most ambitious projects in the Web 3.0 space. The company recognizes the demand for diversified financial and payment solutions and aims to make them safe and accessible for all.

Mastercard’s involvement in the digital assets space is critical for several reasons. By placing more trust in blockchain and crypto, Mastercard indirectly encourages people to join and explore the Web 3.0 potential. Its involvement aids in establishing and maintaining the reputation of decentralized systems as secure platforms and, of course, brings more versatility to the end users.

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MTN will draw on our years of experience developing standards and rules for our card network to provide a common framework for a community of users with shared interests. This includes clear rules of the road that prioritize strong consumer protections, stability, and regulatory compliance.

In an interview with Future, Dhamodharan pointed out that developers can write programs on Mastercard’s private instance of the Ethereum blockchain in Solidity. Furthermore, they can access them through any programming language capable of connecting to an API.

Jelena is a content writer dedicated to learning about all things crypto. Her hobbies are playing chess, drawing, baking, and going on long walks. During winter, she usually spends her leisure time reading books.

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