Mastercard has secured the patent for managing "fractional reserves of blockchain currency." This could lead to the formulation of faster transaction process for payments through digital currencies possibly through a credit card.
In the patented document of the US Patent and Trademark Office, Mastercard stated that the pattern for using cryptocurrency was increasing by consumers. This increase is the result of consumers who “value anonymity and security." The document also outlined the limitations of using digital currency.The disadvantage of using cryptocurrency for the transaction is its processing time. The traditional mode of transactions takes nanoseconds for completion whereas blockchain transactions take approximately 10 minutes.
The payer and the merchant need to wait for a significant amount of time before the transaction takes place. This is cumbersome for both the parties. The merchants because of the anonymous status of cryptocurrency exchange remain at the mercy of the payer.
Tom Lee from Fundstrat Global Advisors said in a report by CNBC, that this development is good news for blockchain-based currency.
Bitcoin has been experiencing a downfall in its value since June and the Mastercard patent news has elevated the market cap of bitcoins again.