Our Blockchain ‘Can Run The Whole Company’, Says Mastercard Vice Chair at Money20/20

Mastercard has “built a Blockchain that can run the whole” of its network, its vice chair Ann Cairns claimed during the ongoing Money20/20 conference June 4.

Speaking at the Amsterdam event, Ann Cairns said the company had deliberately opted to develop a blockchain integration “at scale” while stating the need to identify “real use cases.”

“You just don’t replace existing technology with blockchain because you may not create a better user experience,” she explained.

“So it’s finding that thing that it’s going to solve for you, and it may be proof of authenticity… or it could be things like global trade… you’ve got your paws on the technology but your jury’s still out about how instrument it’s going to be.”

Despite the early stages of uptake across legacy finance, MasterCard has been actively pursuing blockchain solutions with ever increasing voracity.

In April, the payments giant published a patent for ‘fast tracking’ blockchain growth by speeding up the rate at which nodes verify data.

A slowdown in the company’s growth in Q1 2018 was even directly attributed to the drop in price of major cryptocurrencies and subsequent curtailing of trading activity.

“This is due to the recent drop-off in crypto wallet funding,” CFO Martina Hund-Mejean said during an earnings call June 2. “We expect cross-border growth to moderate somewhat.”