Visa joins cryptocurrency market, now allows crypto transaction, but not bitcoin

Visa has become the latest payment company to accept cryptocurrency, as the firm made its first cryptocurrency transaction this month.

The incorporation of crypto into its payment options followed Mastercard plans to accept bitcoin.

Visa partnered with digital asset bank, Anchorage, to conduct its first transaction using Crypto.com to send USDC to Visa’s Ethereum address at Anchorage. Head of crypto at Visa, Cuy Sheffield, said the move was encouraged by consumer demand.

Sheffield said the company experienced an increase in customer demand, prompting the firm to conduct a test at an unspecified date. He stated that the company’s clients want product built in line with the digital asset.

Visa is not going in the same direction as most companies embracing cryptocurrency, as it preferred USD Coin (USDC), which is a stablecoin digital asset with a value pegged directly to the dollar.

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Speaking on its entry into the crypto market, Sheffield said, “We see increasing demand from consumers across the world to be able to access, hold and use digital currencies and we’re seeing demand from our clients to be able to build products that provide that access for consumers”, he told Reuters on Monday.

Global payment companies are beginning to embrace cryptocurrency as it becomes popular among investors and online shoppers. Although, in Nigeria, payment companies are still keeping distance due to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s ban on crypto transactions.

Aside from payment firms, manufacturers and service providers are also stepping into the market. Last week, Tesla founder, Elon Musk had announced that his automaker will now accept cryptocurrency as payment for its vehicles.

Musk said bitcoin is the preferred crypto, as he and the company bet big on bitcoin becoming a traditional payment option in the future. He said Tesla will remain exposed to crypto through bitcoin, as payment made will not be converted into fiat.

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