Share this article
Mastercard President Says Crypto Patents Will Pay Off When Central Bank Digital Currencies Arrive
Crypto IP "puts us in a good position" for central bank digital currencies, said Mastercard President Miebach.
By Danny Nelson
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 10:26 a.m. Published Nov 2, 2020, 7:07 p.m.
Mastercard President Michael Miebach said the payments processor's massive trove of cryptocurrency patents will give it an edge once central bank digital currencies (CBDC) debut.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
- Mastercard's cryptocurrency intellectual property "puts us in a good position" for a CBDC future, Miebach told analysts during the firm's Oct. 28 Q3 earnings call.
- "The link into an acceptance network is critical" for a CBDC, he said. "So we hold some patents in [the crypto] space that link these transactions right back into our network where it can be used. And this is how we can bring value, and it brings value to us."
- Miebach further asserted Mastercard is "the leading payments player" for crypto IP. That may be true for now, but perhaps not for long. Ant Group affiliate Alibaba is on track to hold an unprecedented number of blockchain patents by the end of the year.
- A company spokesperson did not immediately answer questions regarding the size of Mastercard's crypto IP trove.
- Miebach said Mastercard is talking with world governments on their plans for a CBDC.
- Miebach is slated to become Mastercard's chief executive in early 2021.
Read more: Mastercard Releases Platform Enabling Central Banks to Test Digital Currencies
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Coinbase Sees Crypto Recovery Ahead as Liquidity Improves and Fed Rate Cut Odds Climb
The crypto exchange also took note of a so-called AI bubble that continues to go strong and a weaker U.S. dollar.
What to know:
- Coinbase Institutional is seeing a potential December recovery in crypto, citing improving liquidity and a shift in macroeconomic conditions that could favor risk assets like bitcoin.
- The firm's optimism is driven by rising odds of Federal Reserve rate cuts, with markets pricing in a 93% chance easing next week, and improving liquidity conditions.
- Several recent institutional developments, including Vanguard's crypto ETF policy reversal and Bank of America's greenlighting of crypto allocations, have contributed to bitcoin's rebound from recent lows.
Top Stories
