MasterCard executive insists crypto adoption will grow, but challenges must be addressed

• MasterCard VP Harold Bossé is bullish that crypto adoption will come to build on the millions who are already on board
• However, issues including cost, speed, and regulatory concerns must be addressed first to pull in the big players

MasterCard’s vice president of product and innovation, digital asset and blockchain, Harold Bossé, has predicted that crypto adoption will grow into the future, but key challenges must be handled first. During a recent appearance at an Avalanche webinar – Powering Business with Blockchain, Bossé seemed unfazed by recent changes that have seen crypto markets plunge to the lowest levels all year. 

The MasterCard VP holds a confident stance that investors, executives and other participants in crypto are looking forwards to better days. Further, Bossé noted that even with the adoption predicted to come; there’s already traction in this direction as millions are already using digital assets and blockchain technology.

“They are early adopters and new adopters, but we have switched toward mass markets, [and] that will be a very important aspect for financial institutions to move into the space,” he commented.

To cross there, change must come 

Bossé noted that there are still some roadblocks on the way to getting there. He added that once these challenges are solved, the general public will become more willing to onboard these technologies. Enterprise entities and major market players would also then be able to enter this market space.

He singled out transaction costs and speed issues, the commercial rationale around scalability, inadequate understanding in senior management and the always hovering regulatory concerns. The MasterCard VP said that blockchain would remain untrusted for good money unless this changes.

To get the big players around the table, the cryptocurrency industry must assure a deeper level of security.

“It has to become invisible. I keep saying that and I sound like a broken record, but it has to disappear into the background for users who don’t care — honestly, my mom doesn’t care if it’s [centralised finance] or DeFi,” he said.

Parallels with the advent of the internet

Citing the case of Amazon, the MasterCard Vice President also urged startups to think outside the box and explore ideas that haven’t been actualised yet. 

“Think about the advent of the internet; no one was thinking that Amazon could even be a concept — you need the internet for Amazon to work… We’re in the same situation: How do we transform the lives of people and go into demographics or groups of people who don’t really think about blockchain first but think about their business problems,” he queried.