According to Visa Inc, it will allow the use of the cryptocurrency USD Coins to settle transactions on its payment network. Analysts say that it’s the latest sign of increasing acceptance of digital currencies by the mainstream financial industry.
Significantly, Visa has launched the pilot program with payment and crypto platform Crypto.com. It plans to offer the option to more partners later this year.
USDC (USD Coin) is a stablecoin cryptocurrency whose value is pegged directly to the American currency.
Visa’s move comes as major financial firms like BNY Mellon, BlackRock Inc, and Mastercard Inc have adopted some digital coins. Furthermore, this is sparking expectations that cryptocurrencies will become a regular part of investment portfolios.
Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk announced last week that customers can buy its electric vehicles with Bitcoin. It was a significant step forward for cryptocurrency’s use in commerce.
Cuy Sheffield is the head of the crypto at Visa. He sais there is increasing demand from consumers across the world to access, hold and use digital currencies. Furthermore, Sheffield said that he sees demand from their clients to be able to build products that provide that access for consumers.
Bitcoin increased to a one-week high on Monday
It is worth saying that if a customer wants to use a Crypto.com Visa card to pay for a coffee, the user will have to convert digital currency in a cryptocurrency wallet into traditional money.
The cryptocurrency wallet will deposit traditional currency in a bank account to be wired to Visa at the end of the day to complete any transactions. As a result, additional cost and complexity will be unavoidable for businesses.
Visa intends to use the ethereum blockchain. This move strips out the need to convert digital coins into traditional money for the transaction to be completed.
Visa announced it has partnered with digital asset bank Anchorage and made the first transaction in March, with Crypto.com sending USD Coin to Visa’s Ethereum address at Anchorage.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, increased to a one-week high on Monday. It was growing as much as 4.5% to $58,300 and nearing a record high over $61,000 reached earlier in March.
