The giant payment processor, VISA, is about to make a sensational entry into the crypto market, after numerous partnerships with various companies in the cryptosphere. The latest, with Circle, will allow it to integrate the USDC stablecoin.
Visa x USDC
The announcement was first published on Forbes, on December 2.
It is actually a partnership between VISA and Circle, the company issuing the USDC stablecoin. In fact, this token will now be available from a network of 60 million merchants.
Through this partnership, Circle will help VISA card issuers integrate USDC into their system. Subsequently, partner companies will be able to send international payments in USDC to any other company, using the VISA system. Important point: VISA will not provide custody of the funds.
“This will be the first corporate card that will allow businesses to be able to spend a balance of USDC. And so we think that this will significantly increase the utility that USDC can have for Circle’s business clients.”
Said Visa head of crypto Cuy Sheffield
This news is a great first, as the USDC will become the first stablecoin to be integrated into a financial system of this scale.
Fast Track program: more innovations in fintech
The whole of this partnership is carried out within the framework of the Fast Track program. Launched by VISA, it aims to integrate fintech innovations into the VISA infrastructure. With this program, VISA supports its partners in the various stages necessary for issuing a credit card.
We find, in this program, several crypto companies, such as Cred or BlockFi.
For its part, BlockFi also announced a partnership with VISA, which concerns the issuance of a crypto credit card with cash backs in bitcoins. It should normally arrive in early 2021 and will obviously support the USDC.
Despite these partnerships, VISA does not lose sight of its objective of working with central banks in the issuance of CBDC. It continues to file patents on this subject.
