Digital currency comes to Visa’s settlement platform
Visa Inc announced on Monday that has launched the pilot program with payment and crypto platform Crypto.com, allowing the use of the cryptocurrency USD Coin to settle transactions on its payment network, the latest sign of growing acceptance of digital currencies by the mainstream financial industry.
The USD Coin (USDC) is a stablecoin cryptocurrency whose value is pegged directly to the U.S. dollar.
As the company states: “The foundation of Visa was built on the electronic enablement of moving money. Today, money itself is evolving and our network and solutions are evolving with it. We’re focused on connecting our network of thousands of financial institutions, millions of merchants, and billions of consumers to new crypto and blockchain networks.”
“We see increasing demand from consumers across the world to be able to access, hold and use digital currencies and we’re seeing demand from our clients to be able to build products that provide that access for consumers,” Cuy Sheffield, head of crypto at Visa, said.
Traditionally, if a customer chooses to use a Crypto.com Visa card, the digital currency held in a cryptocurrency wallet needs to be converted into traditional money, adding cost and complexity for businesses. With the program announced today, using ethereum blockchain, there is no need anymore for conversion of the digital coin into traditional money for the transaction to be concluded.
Visa said it has partnered with digital asset bank Anchorage and completed the first transaction this month — with Crypto.com sending USDC to Visa’s Ethereum address at Anchorage.
Fun fact? The move was announced on the Company blog, but several media outlets reported it as exclusive!
Moonshot News is an independent European news website for all IT, Media and Advertising professionals, powered by women and with a focus on driving the narrative for diversity, inclusion and gender equality in the industry.
Our mission is to provide top and unbiased information for all professionals and to make sure that women get their fair share of voice in the news and in the spotlight!
We produce original content, news articles, a curated calendar of industry events and a database of women IT, Media and Advertising associations.
