Visa has today announced that it has successfully processed a USDC payment directly on the ethereum blockchain using crypto stablecoin USDC. The payments giant plans to introduce this new capability to its partners later this year.
Bitcoin is back above $58,000 in the wake of the Visa news.
Visa Leverages Ethereum To Process Cryptocurrency Payments On Its Network
According to a blog post on March 29, Visa has teamed up with card issuer and crypto exchange Crypto.com to make cryptocurrency payments more efficient. In a pilot program conducted earlier this month, Crypto.com sent a USDC transaction to Visa’s ethereum address at institutional blockchain security firm Anchorage. The announcement describes this as “one small step for Visa’s settlement platform, one giant step forward for the integration of digital and traditional fiat currencies”.
The firm’s use of the ethereum blockchain eliminates the need to convert crypto into fiat money before the transaction is completed — basically getting rid of the current complexities for many businesses.
Visa Chief Product Officer Jack Forestell explained:
“Crypto-native fintechs want partners who understand their business and the complexities of digital currency form factors. The announcement today marks a major milestone in our ability to address the needs of fintechs managing their business in a stablecoin or cryptocurrency, and it’s really an extension of what we do every day, securely facilitating payments in all different currency all across the world”
Visa notes that its payments system presently handles “billions of dollars” every day. Going forward, the credit card behemoth is set to “support reconciliation and currency conversion for stablecoins such as USDC” and a “settlement report” for crypto wallets.
Bitcoin Ready To Go Mainstream
Notably, Visa’s foray into the cryptocurrency industry does not end there. Visa CEO Al Kelly recently indicated that the firm is planning to add support for bitcoin purchases on its credentials.
The move comes at a time when institutional investors like Mastercard, PayPal, MicroStrategy, Square, bitcoin mining firm Marathon, Tesla, and others have all embraced bitcoin. After investing a staggering $1.5 billion, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced just days ago that the electric vehicle manufacturer will be accepting bitcoin payments.
Bitcoin price reacted positively to the announcement. The world’s largest cryptocurrency is trading at $58,271.02, up 3.60% on the day. Suffice to say, Visa’s bold move will likely bring bitcoin a step closer to mainstream adoption.
