Mastercard is continuing to form key strategic partnerships in 2022 as the company looks to strengthen its position in the coming Web3 era. As such, Candy Digital, Immutable X, Nifty Gateway, The Sandbox, MoonPay, and Mintable are among the most recent partners for the payment processor. Ever since Mastercards partnership with Coinbase was established in January, which enables customers to buy NFTs from the cryptocurrency exchanges new marketplace, the company is now reportedly attempting to bridge the gap between creators and customers by eliminating the requirement for buyers to own crypto in order to purchase the latest NFT. Mastercard produced its first NFT in September 2021, based on the prestigious football coach and global ambassador, Jose Mourinho. This NFT was subsequently awarded to a U.K. Mastercard customer during a sweepstakes competition. In related news, Mastercard also filed a trademark application with the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) in April, thereby further highlighting the companys intention to provide payment services and digital spaces to its customers within the metaverse going forward. Lastly, although Mastercards goal is to allow NFT purchases to occur without the use of cryptocurrencies, customers buying the NFTs will still require a crypto wallet to successfully store the non-fungible tokens.
