Visa spoke about its cryptocurrency initiatives at a roundtable
Digital currencies are the evolution of money. This was announced by Kai Sheffield, head of the cryptocurrency division of Visa, during a round table organized by Visa for journalists from different countries.
Sheffield said one of the world's largest payment systems is studying the area and is launching a number of initiatives to make sure new forms of money can be used safely.
Digital money isn't just about bitcoin. Visa divides the cryptocurrency world into four categories.
One of the current trends at the present time is that bitcoin is becoming available in more and more financial products. Five years ago, in order to buy bitcoin, you had to use a specialized crypto exchange. And now large neobanks, large digital wallets are adding various opportunities related to cryptocurrencies. “We predict this will continue in many markets,” Sheffield said.
Stablecoins are starting to make public blockchains useful as payment networks. If you want to send dollars from the States to Africa and want to use the blockchain for this, you can transfer your money into cryptodollars, send over the blockchain and, upon receipt, transfer it into regular money.
“Stablecoins - payment technology and payment innovation. This is not a new currency, it is a new form factor for existing currencies. And a new payment reality. We see tremendous interest from both large clients and individual developers around the world in developing this ecosystem, ”said Kai Sheffield.
Stablecoins are most applicable in the B2B field. They will contribute to the digitalization of this area of payments, we are confident in the company.
Currently, 50 crypto companies are in various stages of signing a partnership with Visa, said Kai Sheffield.
READ ALSO: Visa Conducts First USD Coin Transaction With Crypto.com
In addition, crypto companies are increasingly adding traditional payment products. For example, at the end of last year, the American cryptocurrency startup BlockFi introduced a Visa credit card with a cashback in the form of bitcoins. On the other hand, traditional and neobanks add different crypto functions. Visa can also be a link here - between banks and the new blockchain ecosystem.
Digital currencies are the evolution of money. This was announced by Kai Sheffield, head of the cryptocurrency division of Visa, during a round table organized by Visa for journalists from different countries.
Sheffield said one of the world's largest payment systems is studying the area and is launching a number of initiatives to make sure new forms of money can be used safely.
Digital money isn't just about bitcoin. Visa divides the cryptocurrency world into four categories.
1. Cryptocurrencies
Several years ago, Visa thought that one day people would start using bitcoins for electronic payments, for making purchases. This did not happen, and one of the reasons is the volatility of cryptocurrencies. “People don't want to be the person who bought 10,000 bitcoin pizza in 2011,” said the vice president of Visa. Instead, Bitcoin has become the digital version of gold. People use it as an asset to maintain value. Its main options now are to buy, save, earn.One of the current trends at the present time is that bitcoin is becoming available in more and more financial products. Five years ago, in order to buy bitcoin, you had to use a specialized crypto exchange. And now large neobanks, large digital wallets are adding various opportunities related to cryptocurrencies. “We predict this will continue in many markets,” Sheffield said.
2. Stablecoins
These are digital currencies backed by fiat money and commercial banks. How do stablecoins work? You can take $ 1000, go to a fintech company (Coinbase, for example), they will deposit this money in a bank account, and then they will create 1000 USDC. This stablecoin is backed by the dollar. Digital tokens are created on the public blockchain network. You can transfer fiat money to this new infrastructure, and then transfer stablecoins to another crypto wallet without having to worry about the exchange rate and volatility.Stablecoins are starting to make public blockchains useful as payment networks. If you want to send dollars from the States to Africa and want to use the blockchain for this, you can transfer your money into cryptodollars, send over the blockchain and, upon receipt, transfer it into regular money.
“Stablecoins - payment technology and payment innovation. This is not a new currency, it is a new form factor for existing currencies. And a new payment reality. We see tremendous interest from both large clients and individual developers around the world in developing this ecosystem, ”said Kai Sheffield.
Stablecoins are most applicable in the B2B field. They will contribute to the digitalization of this area of payments, we are confident in the company.
3. CBDC
The difference between stablecoins and CBDC is that they are issued by the private sector - fintech companies, commercial banks. And CBDCs are issued and supported by central banks. A large number of central banks in the world are actively studying the issue of issuing their digital currencies, in particular, everyone knows about China. Visa is working with central banks in a number of countries on how to build CBDCs, how to integrate them into existing payment ecosystems.4. NFT
Half a year ago, few people could understand what non-fungible tokens are. Now every week the media are full of headlines about new NFTs. Cryptocurrencies began as the creation of a new asset class. Then they became a form factor in the form of stablecoins for fiat currencies. Cryptocurrencies are now becoming a form factor for digital content. Works of art become tokenized assets on the blockchain network. Videos, songs, audio files. NFT is a tokenized art. “This is a new generation of e-commerce,” a company spokesman said.What is Visa working on in the cryptocurrency space now?
Most merchants currently do not accept cryptocurrencies directly, and the number of digital money holders in the world is growing. On the other hand, there are many crypto wallets out there that would like to provide new payment methods to customers. Visa can act as a liaison between all of these parties. Customers will be able to pay with cryptocurrencies in the same way they do with payment cards and phones, and merchants do not need to implement any changes to start accepting cryptocurrencies.Currently, 50 crypto companies are in various stages of signing a partnership with Visa, said Kai Sheffield.
READ ALSO: Visa Conducts First USD Coin Transaction With Crypto.com
In addition, crypto companies are increasingly adding traditional payment products. For example, at the end of last year, the American cryptocurrency startup BlockFi introduced a Visa credit card with a cashback in the form of bitcoins. On the other hand, traditional and neobanks add different crypto functions. Visa can also be a link here - between banks and the new blockchain ecosystem.
