Visa announced today that it will allow the use of cryptocurrencies to carry out transactions in its payment network, and specifically, it does so with the USD Coin (USDC). This is but a new sign of the growing acceptance of digital currencies by the major financial industry. To bring this move to fruition, Visa has already launched a pilot program with cryptography and payment platform Crypto.com, although it plans to offer the option to more partners later this year.
Visa's move comes at a time when financial companies such as BNY Mellon, BlackRock, or a more well-known Mastercard, are taking steps to make greater use of cryptocurrencies for investment and payment purposes, not to mention the recent investment of Elon Mask's company, Tesla, in Bitcoin, or the possibility of buying their vehicles with this cryptocurrency.
"We see an increase in demand from consumers around the world to be able to access, maintain and use digital currencies and we are seeing demand from our customers to be able to build products that provide that access to consumers," said Cuy Sheffield, Chief cryptography of Visa.
The operation of a Crypto Visa to make everyday payments is very simple. This card is linked to a digital wallet where the USD Coin is stored to become traditional money at the time of payment. To do this, the cryptocurrency wallet will deposit the traditional fiat currency into a bank account, which will be transferred to Visa at the end of the day to settle any transaction, adding cost and complexity to the business.
Visa's latest step, which will use the Ethereum blockchain, removes the need to convert digital currency into traditional money in order to settle the transaction. Because of this, Ethereum is increasing in value, so the GPU miners' bubble is far from over.
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