Two of the world’s biggest payment giants, Mastercard and Visa, have put their crypto plans on hold. This decision comes as a result of the crypto winter the industry is currently facing, including the collapses of some of its biggest players, like FTX. 

Both payment companies have halted the launch of some crypto products and services until the ongoing bear market improves.

In the past few years, the popularity of cryptocurrencies had gone through the roof and had attracted the attention of certain parties, like Mastercard and Visa. Since their entrance into the crypto space, both payment platforms have partnered up with crypto firms and, at the same time, put in some of their efforts into exploring blockchain and its technology.

The past couple of months has been quite busy for these two payment platforms. As the official technology partner of FIFA, Visa created an exciting hybrid experience known as Visa Masters of Movement for football fans. The payment giant also collaborated with Blockchain.com to release a debit crypto card. In addition to these, Visa partnered with crypto exchange Huobi to launch the Huobi Visa Card. 

Mastercard presented similar attitudes to Visa’s experiences in the crypto world. For instance, Mastercard partnered with Polygon earlier this year to launch the Mastercard Artist Accelerator. 

Despite the steady pace at which these payment giants are working in the crypto space, both parties have decided to steer clear of the industry until the effects of certain events become stable.

A spokesperson for Visa also shared the idea of Visa about the subject:

“Recent high-profile failures in the crypto sector are an important reminder that we have a long way to go before crypto becomes a part of mainstream payments and financial services.” 

Recent events, like the FTX collapse, have shown the need for a clear regulatory framework for payment companies, like Mastercard and Visa.

Are Mastercard and Visa alone in their decision to back away from the crypto industry?

Other payment platforms have also shared their plans for the crypto industry. American Express stated that the company would employ using crypto as a means of redeeming reward points in the years to come. However, the card company does not consider crypto and other virtual assets as a priority at the moment.

To sum up, the current situation in the crypto market scares both small and big companies, so the bear market does not affect only individual investments, it also affects organizations and companies negatively.