Earlier this week, we were able to tell you that Tesla bought bitcoin for billions and that they plan to start accepting payments in the cryptocurrency.

The announcement caused the already hot bitcoin price to take another steep jump. Now the credit card giant Mastercard is announcing that their customers will be able to use selected cryptocurrencies as means of payment in the future.

The background to the decision is that digital assets as a phenomenon continue to grow and become an increasingly important part of the payment world, regardless of what they think about cryptocurrencies, the company writes in a press release.

This is a major change that involves a lot of work. We will be very thoughtful about which assets we support based on our principles for digital currencies, which focus on consumer protection and regulatory compliance.

Mastercard has seen customers use their cards to buy cryptocurrencies, especially most recently when bitcoin skyrocketed in value. They also see that more and more customers are taking advantage of cryptocurrencies to have access to the assets and convert them into traditional currencies to trade for. The trend is unequivocal, states Mastercard.

This is a snapshot of the Press Release from Mastercard:

We are preparing right now for the future of crypto and payments, announcing that this year Mastercard will start supporting select cryptocurrencies directly on our network. This is a big change that will require a lot of work. We will be very thoughtful about which assets we support based on our principles for digital currencies, which focus on consumer protection and compliance.

Our philosophy on cryptocurrencies is straightforward: It’s about choice. Mastercard isn’t here to recommend you start using cryptocurrencies. But we are here to enable customers, merchants, and businesses to move digital value – traditional or crypto – however, they want.It should be your choice, it’s your money.

The future of Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency for Mastercard

Mastercard is already working vigorously to provide this consumer choice for cryptocurrencies. They teamed up with Wirex and BitPay last year to create crypto cards that allow people to transact using their cryptocurrencies. Mastercard added to those collaborations this year by joining forces with LVL, an up-and-coming cryptocurrency exchange. These partnerships — with many more planned in the pipeline — build on our many years of crypto collaborations.

Added to this work, Mastercard is actively engaging with numerous major central banks around the world, as they review plans to launch new digital currencies, dubbed CBDCs, to offer their citizens a new way to pay. Last year, Mastercard created a platform for these banks to use these currencies in a simulated environment. Using their deep experience in payments technologies, they look forward to continuing these partnerships with governments and helping them explore the best ways to develop these new currencies using blockchain.

With 89 blockchain patents granted globally with an additional 285 blockchain applications pending worldwide, Mastercard already has one of the payments industry’s biggest blockchain patent portfolios to draw from to make these projects successful.