Kevin Helms
A student of Austrian Economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects and the intersection between economics and cryptography.
Visa Partners With Over 65 Crypto Platforms — Crypto-Linked Card Usage Soars Despite Price Volatility
There are now more than 65 crypto platforms and exchanges that have partnered with Visa. As part of its announcement, the payments giant confirmed that crypto-linked cards were used for a total of $2.5 billion in the first fiscal quarter, “which is already 70 percent of all payments in fiscal 2021.”
Visa Outlines Crypto Strategy and Achievements
Visa Inc. discussed its crypto strategy and achievements during the company’s earnings call Thursday. Visa CEO Al Kelly said: “Many current trends in payments, including … crypto, and wallets, are enabling new ways to pay. These represent opportunities for Visa.”
Regarding his company’s efforts in the crypto space, the executive highlighted:
We’re also providing on-ramps for crypto players creating connectivity with fiat economies. There are over 65 crypto platforms and exchanges that have partnered to issue Visa credentials.
Recently, Bitcoin.com News reported that consumers will be able to spend cryptocurrency at 80 million merchants using crypto-linked Visa cards. However, CEO Kelly said during the call that the actual number is “closer to 100 merchants.”
The Visa boss also revealed: “This quarter, Visa credentials and crypto wallets had more than $2.5 billion in payments volume, which is already 70% of the payments volume for all of fiscal 2021.”
In July, Visa said that crypto-linked card usage reached $1 billion for the first six months of 2021.
Furthermore, the Visa CEO detailed: “In addition to embedding credentials and crypto platforms, we continue to innovate around our settlement and crypto API capabilities,” elaborating:
We will continue to lean into the crypto space. And our strategy is to be a key partner to provide the connectivity, scale, consumer value propositions, reliability, and security that is needed for crypto offerings to grow.
Kelly also mentioned his company’s recently launched “specialized global advisory practice” for cryptocurrency. Meanwhile, Visa currently has no plans to hold crypto on its balance sheet.
Visa CFO Vasant Prabhu told CNBC in an interview Friday:
We’ve seen this payment volume continue to grow despite volatility in the crypto markets.
What do you think about Visa’s efforts in the crypto space? Let us know in the comments section below.
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