Mastercard(US:MA) 智通财经网·2025-07-15 02:48Core Viewpoint - Mastercard's Chief Product Officer, Jorn Lambert, emphasizes that while stablecoins are gaining popularity, significant challenges remain before they can be effectively used as everyday payment tools [1][2]. Group 1: Stablecoin Adoption Challenges - Lambert highlights that despite the technological advantages of stablecoins, such as speed, 24/7 availability, low cost, programmability, and immutability, these features alone are insufficient for stablecoins to become viable payment methods. User experience, coverage, and consumer reach are equally, if not more, critical [1]. - Currently, approximately 90% of stablecoin transaction volume is related to cryptocurrency trading, with investors using dollar-pegged tokens to trade digital assets. This indicates a low acceptance of stablecoins for everyday consumer payments [2]. - Lambert points out that stablecoins lack a clear value proposition in regular consumer-to-merchant payments, comparing them to prepaid cards that can only be used at specific merchants [2]. Group 2: Mastercard's Strategic Positioning - Mastercard is positioning itself as a bridge between digital assets and the traditional financial system, aiming to provide the necessary infrastructure for the scalable application of stablecoins through global merchant acceptance, security, and compliance [1]. - The company has been involved in stablecoin initiatives since at least 2021, collaborating with Paxos Trust Company to facilitate the minting and redemption of the USDG stablecoin, and supporting other stablecoins like Fiserv's FIUSD, PayPal's PYUSD, and Circle's USDC [1]. - Mastercard's Chief Commercial Payments Officer, Rajesh Seshadri, notes that the conversion between stablecoins and fiat currency remains a necessary step, as the overall cost of using stablecoins includes various expenses beyond just the stablecoin itself, such as deposits, foreign exchange, compliance, and settlement [2]. Group 3: Regulatory Environment and Market Dynamics - As U.S. legislation regarding stablecoins progresses, discussions around stablecoins are intensifying, prompting new players to enter the digital asset space and encouraging financial institutions to reassess their positions in this evolving industry [2]. - Financial institutions are increasingly concerned about the potential for funds to exist as stablecoin balances rather than traditional bank deposits, raising the priority of this issue [2]. - Governments and central banks worldwide are also exploring ways to foster local ecosystem innovation to avoid economic dollarization, indicating a future emergence of diverse solutions in the stablecoin space [3].