Wednesday, August 21.
MasterCard (NYSE: MA), a Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) partner in its Libra project, has been reported to be possibly launching its own cryptocurrency team soon, too. And amidst this, it seems the cyptocurrency market has got a boost, with Bitcoin staging a substantial comeback after its worst decline of the year.
Bitcoin recently suffered its biggest decline since November, falling about 15% to around $10,145. However the world’s biggest crypto has attempted a rally amidst overall positive crypto sentiment.
Besides, MasterCard has been assembling a team of experts to make its dream come true. The team will be charged with product development, trends monitoring, and cryptocurrency perpetuation.
Seth Eisen, the Senior Vice President of MasterCard, said about this development, “Looking at blockchains and cryptocurrencies is part of the firm’s activities to find new ways to create value.”
This foray into cryptocurrencies will mark MasterCard’s transition into a technology company, with a future that will go beyond just cards. And if the move does not eventually send the company into tech, at least, it will surely get to understand digital currencies more.
In recent times, MasterCard has been extremely open about its enthusiasm with this revolutionary technology. For example, it is presently a key member of the Libra Association, a group of partnering companies in the development of Libra. This group comprises PayPal (Nasdaq: PYPL), Visa (NYSE: V), and Uber (NYSE: UBER).
And to this defining news, the stock market has responded, with the company’s stock rising by 1.35% to $288.07. This price marked the rebounding of the shares from their 50-day/10-week line. So if you have been considering to buy MasterCard for sometimes, at this level, it can really make a good buy.
Facebook Libra Amidst Regulatory Concerns
Even though the Facebook Libra project has been met with a lot of enthusiasm by the technology ecosystem, it still has regulatory issues to contend with. In fact, a delegation of U.S. lawmakers to Switzerland plans to have an extensive discourse about those concerns.
There is a planned meeting between the Chairwoman of the House Financial Services, Maxine Waters and some other delegates, and Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner, Adrian Lobsiger, who have raised concerns, at different times over the Facebook cryptocurrency project.
Waters believes that Facebook is as contentious as the other giants such as Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and Equifax (NYSE: EFX). She has also warned of the impending tremendous power that Facebook can get to wield when it finally launches Libra.
It is important to remember that President Donald Trump recently aired his opposition to the cryptocurrency sphere as a whole, and to the Facebook Libra project specifically. The Federal Reserve chief, Jerome Powell, shares the same sentiment and has resulted in the country’s apex bank planning to launch FedNow, a fast payment service.
Even though Facebook has shown the readiness to cooperate with regulators, the criticism of its project has yet, surprisingly, unabated.
The stock market, however, seems to be catching its enthusiasm as Facebook stock rose 1.3% to $186.17, even though it’s still below its 50-Day line.
