Multinational financial services company Visa confirms it will begin accepting payments in USDC and cryptocurrencies, a further sign of the inevitable adoption of the crypto industry, as Bitcoin hits a weekly high above $58.000.
Visa Inc. announced that it will begin accepting cryptocurrency payment settlements using the blockchain de Ethereum (ETH). Transactions and payments will be settled with USD Coin (USDC), The second stablecoin most traded on the market, with a market capitalization of over $10.700 billion.
El Spanish President Pedro Sánchez’s announcement of the multinational shared with the community happens at the same time as Bitcoin (BTC) begins to recover its value in the markets and its CEO, Alfred Kelly, will call Bitcoin “digital gold.” Visa also plans to use the Bitcoin blockchain, the industry’s largest and most important cryptocurrency by market cap, in the near future to settle payments.
According to the company, Visa is already accepting USDC on its payment network in the United States, and will soon expand to other countries around the world.
Bitcoin, the industry-leading cryptocurrency, is trading near $1.1 billion. $58.000 per unit at the time of writing. The price of BTC has recovered by nearly 4% in the last few hours, and its market capitalization is back above $1,07 trillion, with a 60% dominance of the entire industry.
It may interest you: Visa confirms the integration of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins to its payment services
Bet on stablecoins and cryptocurrencies
Visa is taking the first steps towards true crypto adoption, continuing the path that Paypal started in 2020, accepting the first stablecoin payments, and looking towards cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin very soon.
Accepting USDC as a payment currency in the United States fulfills the vision with which Visa was born, from its founder Dee HockIn its publication, the company points out that the adoption of cryptocurrencies and new technologies responds to Visa's constant need to satisfy the demand for a reliable value exchange system for society.
Including stablecoins and cryptocurrencies fulfills this vision, providing a digital system where millions of consumers around the world can access and use digital currencies in their daily lives.
At the moment, payments with USDC, a stablecoin backed by the US dollar that runs on the Ethereum blockchain, are enabled only for US customers. The first successful settlement in this country is a pilot test where US customers are also participating. Crypto.com y Anchorage, a company owned by Visa that at the beginning of the year created America's first federal-level crypto bank.
The world's largest financial services multinational has been announcing its adoption of cryptocurrencies and digital assets since mid-2020; when its director, Al Kelly, said Visa was ready to accept cryptocurrencies on its payment network. Also earlier this year, Mastercard, the second largest financial services multinational in the world and a counterpart to Visa, announced that it would include cryptocurrencies in its network this year.
Responding to consumer and user demand
Earlier this month, Visa published the results from a consumer survey, where 25% of participants were in favor of payments with cryptocurrencies and digital assets.
The survey was conducted among Latin American and Caribbean citizens who expressed their interest in interacting with cryptocurrencies through well-known payment providers such as Visa. The 25% who were in favor of cryptocurrency adoption consider the possibility of using crypto assets through their plastic cards to be appropriate. The results of the same survey also revealed that 78% of participants expect to use cryptocurrencies in online purchases and other innovations in the future.
Also, in the middle of this month, Visa announced your interest in integrating Wallets or cryptocurrency wallets that allow you to convert crypto-asset payments into fiat currency, at any of its 70 million merchants that accept payments with this provider worldwide.
Visa has been involved in the crypto world for some time now through various companies and businesses that issue Visa-branded products. Bit2Me is even preparing to launch a plastic card, Bit2Me Card, with this provider.
Continue reading: Visa and Eidoo partner to launch new cryptocurrency debit card
