Visa says crypto-linked card usage exceeds $ 1 billion in first half of 2021

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Coinbase has launched its own debit card with the aim of promoting the use of cryptocurrencies in payments as well as in investments.

Coinbase

Visa said on Wednesday that more than $ 1 billion in cryptocurrency was spent by consumers around the world on goods and services through their crypto cards in the first six months of the year.

By comparison, Visa estimated crypto spending at just a fraction of that amount over the same time periods last year and in 2019. The payments giant hasn’t released exact numbers.

“We are doing a lot to create an ecosystem that makes cryptocurrency more usable and more like any other currency,” Visa chief financial officer Vasant Prabhu told CNBC. “People are exploring ways to use cryptocurrency for things that they would use normal currencies for.” He added: “There are a lot of issues in terms of volatility etc. But it’s up to the crypto owners to manage and follow.”

According to a recent study by Visa rival Mastercard, 93% of North American consumers plan to use cryptocurrency or other emerging payment technologies, such as biometrics, contactless systems or QR code systems, over the next year. The study also showed that 75% of millennials would use cryptocurrency if they understood it better.

“We see a lot of volume on our [network] of people buying cryptocurrencies on these various regulated exchanges and as far as we can see this trend continues, ”Prabhu said.

This summer, Mastercard will launch a Gemini crypto exchange card, co-founded by billionaires Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. The card will allow consumers to earn cryptocurrency as a reward. However, cardholders will not be allowed to access their digital wallet on the site.

Visa also announced on Wednesday that the FTX cryptocurrency platform, founded by billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, would be added to its Fintech Fast Track program, aimed in part to make cryptocurrency more convenient for consumer spending. and businesses.

Circle, BlockFi, and Coinbase, which went public in April on Nasdaq, are current Visa partners that allow cardholders to spend from their cryptocurrency wallets at more than 70 million merchants around the world. According to Visa estimates, encrypted cards and other emerging payments, including biometrics and QR code, could disrupt the $ 18 trillion spent annually on cash and checks globally.

Bitcoin’s market cap topped $ 1,000 billion for the first time in February and hit an all-time high of nearly $ 65,000 per unit in April amid the enthusiasm of retail investors during the pandemic as the store of value and hedging against inflation. However, bitcoin has fallen around 45% since then and last month it briefly dipped below $ 29,000 where it started the year.

Prahbu said Visa has no plans in the near term to add a cryptocurrency to its balance sheet like Tesla, MicroStrategy and other companies have done recently.

“We don’t hold cryptocurrencies on our balance sheet today. We hold currencies on our balance sheet that we need to run our business. We hold currencies in which we get paid or we pay people. That is. Usually the dollar, euro, pound. So we don’t intend to hold cryptocurrency, because that’s usually not the way we get paid or the way we pay people ”, a- he declared.

Visa is expected to release its quarterly results on July 28.

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