Visa announced on Wednesday, Dec. 8 that it has officially launched its cryptocurrency consulting services for merchants and other financial firms. Amid the growing popularity of virtual currencies, the global payment processor is expected to dive deeper into the field of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and other digital assets.
Visa Crypto Advisory Service
According to an early report by CNBC, Visa unveiled that its crypto service is already starting to UMB. Following its more extensive take on the cryptocurrency trend, the company eyes to push further to extend its service to several transactions.
"We came to Visa to learn more about crypto and stablecoins and the use cases that are most relevant for our retail and commercial business lines," UMB Bank Executive VP Uma Wilson said.
Starting Oct. 1, 2020 up to late September 2021, the firm managed to process $3.5 billion through these crypto services, Visa's European crypto lead Nikola Plecas said.
Plecas told CNBC that more millions of users are hopping to the popular exchanges wherein the company allowed them to digital currencies in more than 80 million merchants.
Cryptocurrency Stability For Services
In another report from Reuters, Visa conducted a recent study involving crypto adoption among users. It found out that nearly 40% of them preferred to transition to crypto-centered banks next year.
Currently, the company is focused more on selling and buying various digital assets. For Bitcoin enthusiasts, you could now buy items through your credit card and earn cryptos out of them.
Furthermore, the famous stablecoin USD Coin is also allowed in the platform when it comes to clients who make transactions with other people.
In an interview with Reuters, Vasant Prabhu, the Chief Financial Officer of Visa said that there is a need to consider the price stability of bitcoin and other mediums of exchange on their service.
For instance, Prabhu stated that if the price of a digital coin hit $50,000 from $60,000 in just a few hours, there would be a problem for merchants to include this as an official currency.
Visa's NFT Venture
In August, Visa purchased a $150,000 CryptoPunk NFT through the ETH platform. At that time, the firm has been gradually investing in related tokens as it explored the NFT marketplace.
According to the crypto head Cuy Sheffield, the company officially bought one of the most primitive NFTs that exist up to date. Initially, the company received a lot of reactions from people upon making that move.
Some said that NFTs would eventually deflate in value just like other currencies. But still, the company believes that it is a great investment after all.
One reason why it is worth the money, according to the company, is how it could help NFT creators with their artworks. Moreover, this also counts as a next-gen step for the financial capability of the firm.
Last month, Tech Times reported that Visa would have a hard time handling its credit cards for UK consumers. Amazon said that it will no longer accept UK-based Visa cards starting mid-January 2022.
Read Also: Visa Allows Bitcoin, Ether for Payments in Card and Other Fees-Stocks of Cryptocurrency Rise
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Joseph Henry
