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Mastercard is forming a partnership program with seven prominent blockchain and payment technology providers to \u201cbring a greater understanding of the benefits and limitations\u201d of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), it announced<\/a> Aug. 17.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mastercard did not share specific plans for the group, but it mentioned many current buzzwords in the CBDC sphere \u2014 security, privacy, interoperability, private sector, driving innovation and efficiencies, for example. Mastercard head of digital assets and blockchain Raj Dhamodharan said in the statement:<\/p>\n \u201cAs we look ahead toward a digitally driven future, it will be essential that the value held as a CBDC is as easy to use as other forms of money.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Mastercard program will bring together companies that have already contributed to CBDC development in various ways. It will include Ripple, which recently introduced a dedicated CBDC platform<\/a>, software company ConsenSys, which has worked on several CBDC projects<\/a>, and tokenized assets solution provider Fluency, which is involved in 23 CBDC projects.<\/p>\n Related:\u00a0Mastercard AI-powered tool to help banks fight fraud<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Participant Giesecke+Devrient has its own CBDC solution and has worked with the central banks<\/a> of Ghana and Thailand on CBDC projects. Idemia specializes in offline payments and has participated in a CBDC project<\/a>\u00a0with a Japanese payment service. Consult Hyperion also works with central banks<\/a> on offline payment solutions. The group is rounded out<\/a> by institutional custody platform Fireblocks.<\/p>\n Mastercard has been active in the crypto space for years but has pulled back from it<\/a> recently. The company has shown strong support<\/a> for CBDCs and participated in projects<\/a> with the Bank for International Settlements and the New York Federal Reserve Bank<\/a>, as well as with individual central banks.<\/p>\n MasterCard announces today the inaugural set of partners~ CBDC platform @Ripple<\/a>, blockchain and Web3 software company @Consensys<\/a>, multi-CBDC and tokenized assets solution provider @fluencycbdc<\/a> , digital identity technology provider @IdemiaGroup<\/a> , digital identity consultant\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/BRuRMZG3FN<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Crypto Eri Carpe Diem (@sentosumosaba) August 17, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n