Kraken Partners with Mastercard to Allow Users to Spend Their Crypto Assets at 150M Merchants

This partnership can be a historic move in the payment industry, as it will allow users to pay for real-world goods and services with their crypto holdings

Kraken, the renowned cryptocurrency platform, has joined forces with MasterCard to empower users to spend their crypto assets—ranging from popular altcoins to new meme coins—at over 150M merchants.

This partnership marks a significant milestone in the payment industry, enabling users to seamlessly pay for real-world goods and services with their crypto holdings, similar to spending cash.

In this article, we delve into the specifics of this announcement and briefly discuss the UK’s evolving relationship with crypto. We’ll also guide you toward the best altcoins to buy now.

Kraken’s Crypto Ambitions

Kraken plans to introduce physical and digital debit cards in the coming weeks, aiming to bridge the gap between everyday spending and the crypto economy.

“Crypto is transforming the payments industry, and we envision a future where global commerce and everyday payments are powered by crypto assets,” said, David Ripley, Kraken Co-CEO.

This move follows the launch of Crack and Pay in January—a feature facilitating borderless payments in 300+ cryptos.

MasterCard has also published a link where Kraken customers can join the waitlist for this new crypto payment offering.

UK Mulling over Stricter Crypto Regulations

While the US and other major economies have liberalized crypto regulation, the UK seems to be adopting a stricter approach. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is reportedly working on a gateway authorization regime with implications far beyond anti-money laundering (AML) checks.

According to reports, the FCA intends to regulate activities such as stablecoin issuance, crypto lending, exchange activities, and payment services.

Since 2020, only 14% of firms that have applied for mandatory registration have received approval. Of this, BlackRock is the latest addition to the FCA register. However, the new proposed regulations could make crypto business significantly more difficult in the United Kingdom. For instance, if MasterCard is planning to launch debit cards for crypto payments, it will be much harder for it to do so in the UK in light of these regulations. And this isn’t a UK problem alone since crypto has global implications.

This decision comes at a time when six UK digital economy trade bodies have written a letter to the UK Prime Minister to appoint a special team for crypto and digital asset regulation management in the country, similar to the US.

The letter highlights that blockchain and crypto could add £58.3B ($73.6B) to the UK economy over the next 10 years. To realize this potential, the coalition suggests creating a detailed action plan, fostering cross-sector collaboration, and enabling informed decision-making.

However, as more countries adopt the US approach of liberalizing cryptocurrencies, it will undoubtedly put pressure on the UK.

Growing mainstream adoption will aid the market's recovery. It also presents retail investors like us with a great opportunity to invest in promising crypto assets. If you're unsure where to begin, here are three suggestions.

1. BTC Bull Token ($BTCBULL) – Best Altcoin to Buy Right Now

There's no doubt that Bitcoin ($BTC) will receive the biggest boost with the increasing crypto adoption in the UK and worldwide.

Also, with $BTC showing signs of a reversal (it's taking support on the 50 EMA), the time is ripe to capitalize on the King Crypto.

And BTC Bull Token ($BTCBULL) might just be the best crypto to buy to rally alongside $BTC's growth. It's the ONLY crypto right now offering free (and real) $BTC to token holders. The only mandatory requirement is to hold your $BTCBULL in Best Wallet.

Now, the biggest reason we're confident about BTC Bull Token following $BTC's price is that the aforementioned airdrops will take place every time $BTC reaches a new milestone, such as $150K and $200K.

Although this game plan already sounds like a surefire winner, the developers have further bolstered the token's future by scheduling regular token burns.

These will artificially contract the total supply, and as investors rush to grab the few remaining $BTCBULL tokens, their price will most likely see an uptick.

In fact, our BTC Bull Token price prediction suggests that the token could climb as high as $0.0096 by the end of 2026. So, if you get in now (when the price is just $0.002455), you’ll be able to generate nearly 400% returns.

The project has so far raised over $4.5M, and here’s a detailed guide on how to buy $BTCBULL.

2. SUBBD Token ($SUBBD) – Revolutionizing the Online Creator Economy with AI and Crypto

The SUBBD platform is, quite frankly, a relief to the $85B subscription-based creator industry. It’s the first-ever AI-powered crypto subscription