Since 2021, Visa has teamed up with multiple cryptocurrency exchanges - these partnerships have paid off with over $3 billion in payment volume.
Speaking during the Blockchain Economy Summit in Dubai, Vice President, Head of Innovation & Design at Visa CEMEA, Akshay Chopra revealed that Visa's partnerships with cryptocurrency exchanges have enabled over $3 billion in payment volumes since 2021.
The two-day event saw the participation of several key figures in finance, such as Amnah Ajmal, Executive Vice President at Mastercard EEMEA, Matthew Sigel, Head of Digital Assets Research at VanEck, and Lennix Lai, Global Chief Commercial Officer at OKX Exchange, among other speakers.
Huge Payment Volume
According to Chopra, Visa strategically collaborated with the top 75 crypto exchanges in 2021 to offer crypto cards. These partnerships enable Visa cardholders to spend cryptocurrencies at more than 80 million Visa merchants worldwide.
The payment giant aims to make crypto payments easier and more convenient for everyday use. This ambitious goal is visionary, given that less than 5% of the global population has invested in cryptocurrency. However, $3 billion in payment volumes in 2021 alone demonstrate strong demand.
"Building that bridge alone in 2021, and these numbers haven't really been made public, facilitated $3 billion of payment volume," said Chopra. He added that this gives traditional finance opportunities to harness the power of Web3.
According to the Visa executive, all-day cross-border transactions, costs, and inefficiency are the major problems of mainstream financial institutions. That was when Visa's collaboration with Circle, the issuer of stablecoin USDC came into play.
Earlier in September, Visa announced its extended partnership with Circle to expand stablecoin capabilities for international transactions. This approach is considered faster, cheaper, and more efficient compared to traditional methods.
While financial players can benefit from crypto-based payments and the underlying technology, they may be reluctant to fully embrace the innovations, given the lack of proper regulations, Chopra noted.
Regulators in some countries like the United States are still struggling to come up with a transparent legal crypto framework, and thus push back growth efforts.
However, Chopra said that some countries have proactively kept up with the industry and developed a framework that better oversees the sector and fosters innovation. He took the United Arab Emirates as an example of this approach.
In April, Visa shared that it was working on a stablecoin-focused project. The initiative reportedly aimed to onboard the mass to "public blockchain networks and stablecoin payments." The global payment leader has been working with Circle since 2020.
Growing Adoption
Visa is not the only company that embraces crypto's potential. Mastercard, another big player in card issuance, is known for its Crypto Card Program in partnership with some big names in crypto, including Nexo, Gemini, and Tap Global Limited (TAP).
Mastercard and Nexo introduced the first dual-mode crypto card that enables the use of both credit and debit cards.
More payment and tech companies have steadily shown interest in crypto-related offerings and blockchain-based products. The developments, whether public or secret, are growing amid the ongoing regulatory pressure.
PayPal has been the talk of the town with its active engagement in the sector. In August, the digital payment firm launched its own stablecoin PayPal USD (PYUSD). The stablecoin is now listed on popular exchanges such as Huobi, Kraken, ByBit, and Crypto.com.
Furthermore, PayPal later added off-ramp services for Web 3 payments in September. It reportedly applied for an NFT marketplace patent in March, which just surfaced this week.
PayPal's biggest rival, Stripe, previously launched fiat-to-crypto payments for businesses and individuals. The company is reportedly exploring ways to implement cryptocurrency in its plans.
More and more people are using crypto, and now the large payment processors understand the demand. Soon, even more options will be marketed.
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