Mastercard Incorporated's (NYSE:MA) blockchain and digital assets lead for Asia-Pacific, Ashok Venkateswaran, expressed skepticism about the current need for widespread use of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), citing adoption challenges and the comfort of consumers with existing forms of money. While the IMF sees CBDCs as a safe and low-cost alternative to cash, and many countries are exploring or adopting them, Venkateswaran suggests they may be more justified in countries with less robust domestic payment networks. Mastercard's stock (MA) was trading down by 0.53% at the time of the report.