Mastercard Seeks Crypto Partnerships for a CBDC Project Launch.

Mastercard, a big credit company, is planning to use blockchain and cryptocurrency for its new digital money project.

In a blog post on Aug. 17, Mastercard talked about joining hands with crypto companies for its new project about digital money controlled by state banks, called CBDC.

Mastercard shared that 93% of central banks are looking into CBDCs, and four of them are already using it. But, there are still questions about how these will work, their safety, and how private they are. 

To help with this, Mastercard has started a CBDC Partner Program. They already have partners like Ripple and ConsenSys and want more crypto companies to join them. These partners are helping decide the rules for CBDCs, making sure they're private and can work offline.

Jesse McWaters from Mastercard said that CBDCs will help the economy if they are made right. Varun Paul from Fireblocks, another partner, thinks that some problems in the crypto world show why CBDCs, backed by the government, are a good idea.

According to data, 130 countries are exploring CBDCs, and eleven countries, mostly in the Caribbean and Nigeria, are already using them. Also, 21 countries, mainly in Asia and the Middle East, are testing them out. 

However, some people are worried about privacy and the government having too much control over money. For instance, US Congressman Tom Emmer presented a bill against CBDCs because of privacy concerns. Another representative, Warren Davidson, thinks the government shouldn't control how money works.