A Mastercard survey found that 29% of respondents globally hold cryptocurrency as an investment, with another 65% indicating a preference for crypto-related services to be provided by their current financial institution.

The new Mastercard Crypto Source programme aims to make it easy for banks and fintechs to help their customers buy, hold and sell select crypto assets, augmented with identity, cyber, security and advisory services.

Paxos will provide crypto-asset trading and custody services on behalf of the banks, while Mastercard’s technology will integrate those capabilities into banks’ interfaces.

Ajay Bhalla, president, cyber and intelligence, Mastercard, says: "What we are announcing today is a connected approach to services that will help bring users safely and securely into the crypto ecosystem.

"Our recent investments in this space, such as the acquisition of CipherTrace and Ekata, are providing us with a unique set of capabilities to help provide our customers and consumers with the most technically advanced solutions available in the market."