Visa moves to permit payment settlements using cryptocurrency

Cioreviewindia Team | Monday, 29 March 2021, 10:10 IST

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Visa moves to permit payment settlements using cryptocurrency

Tesla Inc boss Elon Musk stated last week that customers can buy its electric vehicles with bitcoin, marking a significant step forward for the cryptocurrency's use in commerce.

Visa inc stated on Monday it will permit  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.

Visa has launched the pilot program with payment and crypto platform Crypto.com and plans to offer the option to more partners later this year, it stated.

The USD Coin (USDC) is a stablecoin cryptocurrency whose worth is pegged directly to the US dollar.

Visa's move occur as major finance firms including BNY Mellon, BlackRock Inc and Mastercard Inc have embraced some digital coins, sparking predictions that cryptocurrencies will turn into a regular part of investment portfolios.

Tesla Inc boss Elon Musk stated last week that customers can buy its electric vehicles with bitcoin, marking a significant step forward for the cryptocurrency's use in commerce.

"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, stated.

Traditionally, if a client decides to use a Crypto.com Visa card to pay for a coffee, the digital currency held in a cryptocurrency wallet needs to be converted into traditional money.

The cryptocurrency wallet will store conventional fiat currency in a bank account, to be wired to Visa at the end of the day to settle any transactions, adding cost and intricacy for businesses.

Visa's most recent, which will utilize the ethereum blockchain, strips out the need to convert digital coin into traditional money in order for the transaction to be settled.

Visa said it has partnered with digital asset bank Anchorage and finished the first transaction this month — with Crypto.com sending USDC to Visa's Ethereum address at Anchorage.

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