Dear Startup Investor,

Neil here.

Mastercard has officially announced that it will start supporting select cryptocurrency payments this year. Which cryptos it will allow on its network are still unknown, but this announcement is incredible news for the crypto world as a whole.

Such a massive financial company supporting the space means it’s likely that more and more retailers across the country will be able to accept crypto as a form of payment. This is one more step into the crypto world for Mastercard, as the company already has 89 blockchain patents and 285 pending blockchain applications.

We predicted something like this would happen just a few days ago.

When Tesla decided to purchase a whopping $1.5 billion in Bitcoin, we anticipated that it would not be the last major company to dive into the crypto space.

And as of last week, Mastercard has become one of many companies we believe will eventually jump in the ring. BNY Mellon, the country’s oldest bank, also announced last week that it will begin to offer crypto services for Bitcoin and other currencies.

Amazon and Twitter have reported that they’re exploring ways to adopt Bitcoin. Experts have also predicted that Apple could (and should) be the next Fortune 500 company to take the leap.

But these are just part of a mountain of crypto headlines to hit the stands over just the last couple of weeks.

Last week, for example, Bitcoin hit a brand-new record following the news from Mastercard and BNY. It also spiked following ongoing tweets from Elon Musk that supported the currency.

At its peak, Bitcoin surged past $48,000. As I write this, it’s still worth over $47,500, and experts are predicting it could hit $50,000 this year.

Based on its growth so far, I have no trouble believing it. But Bitcoin is one of many cryptos I expect to surge over the next year.

There are over 2,000 of them out there, and some have a profit potential that’s the same or greater than Bitcoin. If you’re interested, here are three picks that you can check out right now.

These are smaller cryptos with cheaper buy-ins that could be as much as 20X more profitable than Bitcoin… meaning you can play the crypto space without sacrificing an arm and a leg.

Ultimately, Mastercard’s announcement makes it even clearer than ever that 2021 is the year of cryptocurrency.

It validates the need for this type of technology at a wider scale and shows that crypto is well on its way to making it closer to the mainstream. I think this news is only the beginning of what we’re about to see from the crypto space in 2021 and beyond.

What really excites me about the space is that it has the potential to transform just about every single industry. Blockchain, the tech behind cryptocurrency, is already disrupting everything from banking to cybersecurity and everything in between.

It’s likely that as it continues to gain momentum, it’ll become the foundation of how many startups and larger corporations alike choose to store, track, and share information and financial transactions.

We’ll have our ears to the ground for the latest developments in the space, as always.

In the meantime, if you’re looking to learn more about the top crypto picks that aren’t Bitcoin… check this out.

Have a great rest of your weekend, and I’ll be back soon with another update.

Until next time,

Neil Patel