Payments using cryptocurrency will be made available for Visa merchants. It was intended for users to spend their cryptocurrency holdings directly to buy stuff without first converting them into fiat.
The head of Visa’s crypto division has revealed that the payments giant has partnered with about 60 crypto platforms “to provide consumers the ability to convert and spend digital currency at 80 million merchant locations globally.”
Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s head of crypto, said the company’s work in the crypto space had grown quite a bit. As he stated, “We’ve built a lot of momentum in this space, and we’ll continue supporting the crypto ecosystem in several ways.”
Visa has also pledged to continue to support the crypto ecosystem in various ways. This level of support is unprecedented, and their payment network will be one of the largest in the crypto space.
As part of Visa’s partnership with the crypto platform, popular companies like FTX, Coinbase, Binance, Crypto.com, and BlockFi are included. In addition, these platforms have lending programs that make it easier for merchants to accept payments.
The crypto-linked cards that Visa plans on issuing will make it highly convenient to use digital currencies as a payment medium. They will work like regular credit cards.
As one of the biggest payment processing companies, Visa has a vast network and influence. Crypto cards can be used at coffee shops, dry cleaners, and grocery stores without coffee shops, dry cleaners, or grocery stores accepting crypto directly at the checkout,” he added. The conversions from crypto to fiat happen instantly, behind the scenes. In-store, online, it’s as easy as a standard Visa transaction.
Reasons why the Visa-Crypto combo would make it a success:
It is seen that merchants are reluctant to accept crypto payments because of their volatility. Visa considered this, and they will convert crypto to fiat instantly during the transaction to resolve it. As the store owners will accept fiat, they will also be happy. This will be the catalyst for the actual adoption of fiat.
He continued the size and scope of Visa’s crypto activities have grown dramatically over the past few years. “The number of Visa employees working on crypto in some capacity is now in the hundreds,” he added.
With Visa supporting crypto payments, crypto payments will undoubtedly become more common worldwide. The adoption will also increase when people see that a large company backs it.
Visa announced the launch of its crypto advisory services in early December, and an executive asked if the company plans to offer these services in India. According to him, Visa wants to provide crypto advisory services to clients wherever there is interest, and at present, we offer such services in markets where the regulations permit them.”
