Visa embraces crypto settlements, chooses Ethereum blockchain

Payment giant Visa announced on Monday that it will start using digital assets to settle transactions on its payment network.

In a report credited to Reuters, Visa will utilize the USDC stablecoin on the Ethereum blockchain, whose value is directly pegged to the US dollar.

The decision positions the payment giant as the first major payments network to adopt a stablecoin as a settlement currency. This is a major win for the cryptocurrency community, indicating a growing acceptance of cryptocurrencies from traditional financial institutions. Until now, Visa relied only on fiat currencies for settlements.

Commenting on the development, Visa’s chief product officer Jack Forestell said:

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 currencies all across the world.

Visa is working with Crypto.com for the new rollout. Before now, Crypto.com was required to process Visa’s settlements in a fiat currency. This made the process more expensive and complex. However, with the new support, Crypto.com can settle payments directly in USDC.

Meanwhile, Visa has partnered with digital asset bank Anchorage. This means that Crypto.com will send USDC settlements to Visa’s Ethereum address at Anchorage. According to Reuters, the first transaction for the month has already been completed.

Recall that at the beginning of last month, Visa Inc.’s CEO, Alfred Kelly, hinted at plans to enable cryptocurrency trading on its network.