Crypto cards facilitated $3B payment volume since 2021 exchange deals — Visa exec

The combination of conventional payment cards with cryptocurrency exchanges is playing an essential function in driving the adoption of digital possessions, according to a Visa executive.Speaking to Cointelegraph press reporter Ezra Reguerra during a panel at the Blockchain Economy Dubai Summit, Visas vice president, head of innovation and design, Akshay Chopra, highlighted the role that Visa cards have actually played as a bridge between fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies in recent years.Cointelegraphs Ezra Reguerra (left) on stage with Visas Chopra and Accentures CBDC and digital properties associate director Vladimir Nikolenko. Source: CointelegraphAccording to Chopra, using cryptocurrencies as a method of payment for everyday products like a cup of coffee at a coffee shop is still not common. To tackle this challenge, Visa partnered with 75 of the most significant cryptocurrency exchanges in 2021 to enable them to provide Visa cards. This opened up a network of some 80 million Visa merchants that could, by extension, serve clients who choose to use cryptocurrencies as a means of payment. Chopra tells Reguerra:” Building that bridge alone in 2021, and these numbers havent really been revealed, assisted in $3 billion of payment volume.” Chopra highlighted this as one of a number of opportunities for conventional banks to take advantage of the broader Web3 ecosystem.Related: Visa use Solana to broaden USDC payment capabilityPayments settlement in between monetary organizations remains another avenue ripe for disruption and innovation through blockchain-based services. Chopra states existing protocols like the SWIFT payment system still have limitations, including not being totally practical 24 hours a day:” Banks have trillions of dollars of transactions with each other at the end of the day, but there is a cut-off time where you simply can not transact worldwide. Its a big pain point, and its ineffective and likewise expensive.” Akshay highlights a pilot performed with Circle using USD Coin (USDC), which allowed a variety of cryptocurrency exchange partners to settle payments with USDC at the end of a given day:” Its cheaper than conventional methods, it happens 24/7, and its ingenious. You send the USDC balance, and Visa custodies the funds on the back end of the Ethereum blockchain.” Regulations stay a hurdle for mainstream monetary organizations to truly take advantage of blockchain innovation and cryptocurrency-based payments. Akshay thinks that progressive regulatory environments in jurisdictions like the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have actually benefited industry individuals more than reactive guidelines in countries like the United States.” When they established regulatory structures, they invited the market to speak about what it requires, however likewise what the future might appear like in a couple of years so that guidelines are established well ahead of time.” Visa made headings in April 2023 with the launch of a crypto product roadmap that aims to drive adoption of stablecoin and public blockchain payments by mainstream banks. The company is also set to invest $100 million to check out innovative AI-powered items and services concentrated on payments and commerce through Visa Ventures.Magazine: The Truth Behind Cubas Bitcoin Revolution: An on-the-ground report