Consumers would possibly in the future be ready to charge their purchases on their credit cards using bitcoin as a currency.
On Tuesday, Mastercard won a patent to protect a way that might manage "fractional reserves of blockchain currency."
At present, Mastercard holders can only pay for things using currency that the govt has declared as legal tender, Seth Eisen, Mastercard's senior vice president for communications, said.
In the document, revealed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office, Mastercard said that there has been "increased usage" in blockchain currencies by customers who "value anonymity and security."
But there are disadvantages to using digital currency, the document noted, and there is a necessity to enhance the storage and processing capability of such transactions.
"While blockchain currencies can usually offer such safety and security for the payer's info, such security could also be restricted for payees, particularly due to the restrictions of the blockchain," the document said. For example, digital coin transactions still take longer: about ten minutes for blockchain transactions versus nanoseconds for traditional payments.
As a result, both consumers and merchants have to wait a "significant amount of time" for these digital transactions to go through, or "rely on the payer's good faith" that they're valid, said the document. It added that in the latter instances, the anonymity of the blockchain could leave those accepting payments at a disadvantage.
"Many entities, notably merchants, retailers, service providers, and different purveyors of goods and services, could also be cautious of accepting blockchain currency for products and taking part in blockchain transactions," the document concluded.
However, while the details are still unclear, if the method was brought to market, it may speed up blockchain transactions by permitting cardholders to instantly pay for things on their mastercard with a fraction of their digital currency.
In an email to CNBC, Eisen wrote, "We’re consistently watching ways to bring new thinking and new innovations to market to create price for us and our customers and cardholders. Patent applications are part of that method, taking steps to shield the company’s intellectual property, whether or not the concept ever comes to market."
Eisen said currently, no products have been brought to market.
Still, Fundstrat global Advisors Tom Lee told CNBC that this is excellent news for digital currency.
"It’s extremely validating the concept that digital money, or blockchain-based money, is a valid kind of transaction," Lee, who is managing partner and head of research at the equity research firm, said on "Fast Money" tuesday.
The bitcoin bull pointed out that different countries, such as Japan, have "taken a much more positive stance on digital money, or blockchain based money, being real transactions."
Crypto traders celebrated Tuesday as bitcoin passed $7,000 around 2 p.m. ET and held steady on top of $7,300 for most of the day, according to Coinbase. That's an increase of regarding 13 % from a year ago.
Bitcoin fell below $6,000 in June, in what some traders deemed was a cryptocurrency bear market. The coin bounced back a few days later. Still, bitcoin, the most important digital coin by market cap — valued at over $125 billion, in keeping with CoinMarketCap — is nowhere near its december peak when it was priced around $19,500.
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