Crypto Linked Cards See Continuous Growth

[ad_1]

Innovation

Connecting digital currency to Visa’s global network helps move money for the crypto community

Today, the value of crypto assets held in regulated digital wallets is in the hundreds of billions. For the tens of millions of people who use these platforms, one of the easiest ways to spend crypto is to use a Visa card.

Were partnered with 50 of the major crypto platforms on card programs that make it easy to convert and spend digital currencies at 70 million traders worldwide. With over $ 1 billion spent on encrypted Visa cards in the first half of 2021, it is clear that the crypto community sees value in linking digital currencies to the global Visas network.

Additionally, these programs do not require coffee shops, dry cleaners, or grocery stores to accept cryptocurrencies directly at checkout. It’s the magic of tap and go without the complexity of new acceptance points or cryptographic keys.

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.

Here is an overview of the trends observed and the progress we have made against our digital currency roadmap.

An expanding and evolving ecosystem: We have developed our relationships with the current leading digital currency platforms FTX, Coinbase, Crypto.com and CoinZoom, to name a few. The expertise and treasury infrastructure we have built have helped make Visa the network of choice for crypto native companies. In fact, today, a quarter of companies in the Visa Fintech Fast Track program strive to issue Visa cards tied to a crypto platform.2 These platforms are diversifying to meet a range of consumer needs. , with new tools and features covering interest accounts, loans and direct deposits. In this context, it is more important than ever for financial institutions of all stripes to establish a crypto strategy. Redesigned Rewards: Consumers want choice in everything, and loyalty and rewards are no different. Programs like the Visa BlockFi Rewards credit card allow users to spend money and earn crypto rewards in the same way that other cards offer rewards programs for airline miles or hotel points. .3 By combining engagement in the crypto economy with the utility of a standard Visa card, these programs have the potential to build long-term customer loyalty from both crypto enthusiasts and new adopters. Stablecoins come to the fore: With over $ 100 billion in stablecoins in circulation and hundreds of billions traded every month on public blockchains, stablecoins are starting to deliver on the promise of digital fiat: developer-friendly features of the cryptocurrency combined with the reliability of reserves backed by trust funds.

We were seeing digital wallets and crypto platforms creating payment products entirely with digital currency. For example, the rapidly growing FTX platform, announced today by a new Fintech Fast Track member, pays fifty percent of its remote employees in USDC. We were making our network more accessible to this growing ecosystem with capabilities such as USDC settlement and through our partnership with Circle. As we look to the future, stablecoins are fast becoming an important part of the broader digital transformation of financial services, and Visa is excited to help shape and support this development.

Interested in finding out more? Discover the outlook for digital currency visas

1 Visa Fintech Fast Track participants for North America with plans to issue Visa card programs.

2 Please see the BlockFi Rewards program and Crypto Rewards account terms for more information.

3 Cumulative payment volume for Visa card programs linked to a digital currency platform, January 2021 June 2021

[ad_2]