VISA Steams Ahead With Crypto

Visa has made it clear that its plans for crypto-related products aren’t slowing down anytime soon.

Cuy Sheffield, Head of Crypto at Visa – has said that its dedication to expanding in this area remains strong and shows no signs of waning.

The payments giant is still seeking to expand its digital asset division, according to the firm’s leader of cryptocurrency.

Visa has made it clear that they are not backing away from their cryptocurrency plans, despite recent reports to the contrary in light of the current bear market.

Cuy Sheffield, the Head of Crypto of the U.S. firm, took to Twitter Tuesday and denied Reuters’ statement that Visa and Mastercard had cooled off their crypto enthusiasm. He particularly specified that the accusation did not pertain to Visa.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">1/ This story is inaccurate as it pertains to Visa, here’s the reality 👇🏼<a href="https://t.co/oAEaj7MsX0">https://t.co/oAEaj7MsX0</a></p>&mdash; Cuy Sheffield (@cuysheffield) <a href="https://twitter.com/cuysheffield/status/1630600554069082112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

In spite of the difficulties and insecurity in the crypto-sphere, Visa concluded that stablecoin-based digital currencies functioning on public blockchains could be a critical factor in the payments system.

Visa has been a part of the crypto space for a while, however lately things have not been as active. Last month, it cancelled its international credit card deals with failed crypto exchange FTX.

The company announced its intention to introduce cards to 40 new nations in a “long-term global partnership”. However, their plans were abandoned when their crypto partner collapsed.

The highly publicized crash of FTX led to its bankruptcy and prosecutors subsequently alleging criminal mismanagement. Sam Bankman-Fried, the company’s former CEO, has been charged with 12 offenses stemming from an alleged commingling of customer funds.

Visa recently filed new trademark applications, which could suggest plans for a crypto wallet and a metaverse product. Crypto wallets like MetaMask or Phantom offer users the ability to store digital currency such as Bitcoin or Ethereum and make payments. The metaverse is an online shared virtual world that is receiving increasing attention from the crypto and fintech sectors.

The failure of FTX and its after-effects are pushing U.S. authorities to develop new approaches for controlling the sector.

A Visa representative shared with Decrypt that recent unsuccessful attempts in the crypto sphere remind us that there is still much progress to be made before cryptocurrency can become a commonly used means of payment and financial services.

The spokesperson went on to say that Visa is putting its energies into honing its abilities in Web3 infrastructure layers and assessing the blockchain protocols powering crypto development.