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Visa, the world’s largest payments giant, launched a global cryptocurrency advisory service on Wednesday for clients like banks as well as retail buyers as digital currencies gain traction.
The move by Visa comes amid unprecedented demand from investors for crypto services, with the company’s latest offering targeting financial institutions looking to attract or retain customers with crypto offerings, retailers looking to delve into the non-fungible token (NFT) industry, and central banks looking into digital currencies.
Visa’s services include educating institutions on how to handle cryptocurrency, empowering customers to use the payment system’s network for digital offerings, and helping manage internal transactions.
“We came to Visa to learn more about cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, as well as the use cases that are most relevant to our retail and commercial lines of business,” said Uma Wilson, executive vice president of UMB Bank, a regional lender in the United States. …
A new global study by Visa found that nearly 40% of surveyed cryptocurrency holders are likely or very likely to switch their main bank to one that offers cryptocurrency-related products in the next 12 months.
Visa currently uses its network to buy, sell and store digital currency. It also offers a credit card that allows users to earn BTC from purchases, and also allows users to use USD Coin, a stablecoin cryptocurrency with a value directly pegged to the US dollar, to settle transactions on its payment network.
However, using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin as a medium of exchange requires price stability, said Visa CFO Vasant Prabhu.
“If the price fluctuates between $ 60,000 and $ 50,000 over the course of a few hours, it will be very difficult for a merchant to accept (Bitcoin) as a currency,” Prabhu said. “I don’t know if cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin will ever become , a medium of exchange. There will be stablecoins, ”he said, adding that Visa will facilitate such transactions when the time is right.
Posted by Newt Salamander, Analyst at Freedman Club Crypto News
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