Payments Giant Mastercard Trademarks Crypto And Blockchain Tools

In its latest move into the digital asset space, Mastercard, a company that handles payments, has filed a copyright application for a number of crypto blockchain tools.

According to the application to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Mastercard plans to make software for crypto transfers and set up links between service providers for virtual assets.

The request for a trademark says,

“MASTERCARD CRYPTO CREDENTIAL trademark registration is intended to cover the categories of downloadable application programming interface (API) software for verifying interactions using blockchain networks; downloadable application programming interface (API) software used in processing or exchange of cryptocurrencies and blockchain transactions, namely, identity management and authentication tools; downloadable application programming interface (API) software for connecting virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to other VASPs financial institutions to facilitate crypto transactions; downloadable application programming interface (API) software for facilitating exchange of consumer metadata between financial institutions for compliance purposes.”

Mike Kondoudis, a well-known patent lawyer, brought the application to everyone’s attention.

So far this year, Mastercard has done a few things in the crypto area.

Aptos Labs, the company behind the layer-1 blockchain Aptos (APT), announced in April that it would be working with Mastercard on its Mastercard Crypto Credential project. This is a set of shared standards for verifying financial transactions on blockchain networks. The new system can be used for things like sending money abroad and making payments.

Mastercard also said in March that it was working with the cryptocurrency market Bybit to make a debit card that could be used to make purchases with digital assets.