Global payments giant, Visa, announced that its crypto-enabled cards processed more than $1 billion in total spending in the first half of 2021.
The company stated this in an official statement released today.
“With more than $1 billion spent on crypto-linked Visa cards in the first half of 2021, it’s clear that the crypto community sees value in linking digital currencies to Visa’s global network,” they said.
Visa stated that it will continue to support the development and adoption of the cryptocurrency industry as part of its business. The company said this in its latest crypto update, noting that it is partnering with 50 major companies in the cryptocurrency industry as well as cryptocurrency card programs enabling users to convert and spend digital currency at 70 million merchants worldwide.
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The company pointed out how digital wallets and crypto platforms build payment products entirely with digital currency citing FTX exchange paying 50% of its remote employees in USDC.
“We’re making our network more accessible to this growing ecosystem with capabilities like USDC settlement. As we look to the future, stablecoins are on track to become an important part of the broader digital transformation of financial services, and Visa is excited to help shape and support that development,” they stated.
What this means
Visa has emphasized that its digital currency support does not require global merchants to accept cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) directly. Visa has been working with major cryptocurrency players like cryptocurrency exchange platform Crypto.com to enable a crypto settlement system for fiat transactions. The company has also been closely working with other major crypto companies like FTX exchange, Coinbase, CoinZoom and others.
The firm noted that stablecoins are starting to enliven the promise of digital fiat.
“With more than $100 billion worth of stablecoins in circulation and hundreds of billions exchanged each month on public blockchains, stablecoins are starting to live up to the promise of digital fiat: the developer-friendly characteristics of cryptocurrency combined with the reliability of fiat-backed reserves.
Stablecoins are on track to become an important part of the broader digital transformation of financial services, and Visa is excited to help shape and support that development.
We’ve been busy at Visa, connecting the crypto economy to our ‘network-of-networks,’ a strategy designed to add value to all forms of money movement, whether on the Visa network or beyond,” they said.
One of the world’s largest payment companies, Visa made a major move into the crypto industry last year, partnering with Goldman Sachs-backed blockchain company, Circle, in order to make its USD stablecoin (USDC) compatible with certain credit cards. The company has since been committed to cryptocurrency payments with a particular focus on stablecoin-based integrations.
