MasterCard will conduct a sweepstake and allow a random customer to win its first-ever non-fungible token.
The payment processor announced that it was partnering with a professional soccer manager and former player José Mourinho. The Head Coach of Italian football club Serie A club Roma is a Mastercard global ambassador. The one-of-a-kind NFT will showcase an animated digital football with Mourinho’s signature inscription. The raffle that will take place on September 30 will be open to U.K-based MasterCard customers.
Integrity is similar to that of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin
MasterCard’s entry into the burgeoning NFT space comes only a few weeks after its main competitor, VISA, acquired CryptoPunk 7610 for $150,000. VISA’s NFT is one of 10,000 exclusive digital collectible characters that come with proof of ownership and are stored on the Ethereum blockchain.
NFTs are exclusive digital assets comprising artwork and are currently a hot cake in the crypto sphere. The nature of the artwork and ownership details is stored securely via ledgers whose integrity is similar to that of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
The volume of NFT sales may have reduced by close to 50% during the first week of September. OpenSea, the leading NFT marketplace by volume, recorded $792 million during the period. However, the slight slump is comparable to the movement witnessed in the entire cryptocurrency market. Coinbase Cryptocurrency exchange recorded a 9.06% drop in the price of Bitcoin and a 13.7% decline in the price of Ethereum in the first week of September.
Distinguish its card and real-time payments framework
OpenSea recorded a trading volume of over $1 billion in monthly transactions in August. That was a 286% increase in sales volumes from July to August.
MasterCard’s foray into the world of NFTs corresponds with recent news showing the credit card company had inked a deal to buy CipherTrace, a cryptocurrency intelligence startup. The payment processer is reportedly planning to combine both companies’ artificial intelligence and cyber capabilities. By acquiring CipherTrace, MasterCard would distinguish its card and real-time payments framework to benefit clients and investors.
Tom is a long-serving freelance writer who specializes in the blockchain and cryptocurrency niche. You may even call him a crypto-enthusiast with over 10-years’ experience in content creation, blog writing, and SEO. He is a philosophical figurehead who believes that to make our world a better place, we must invest in incorruptible products and procedures, of which Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are leading examples.
