Visa has announced that they will allow the cryptocurrency “USD Coin” to be used to settle transactions. This is the latest move among a growing acceptance of digital currencies by industry giants.
The company expressed to Reuters that it had started the program with crypto platform Crypto.com and intends to expand the option later this year.
Bitcoin, the top crypto coin, increased to a one-week high after the news, going up by as much as 4.5% to $58,300.
Visa confirmed their news in a comment.
The USD Coin is known as a stablecoin whose value is linked directly to the dollar.
Visa’s move comes as companies including BlackRock Inc, BNY Mellon and Mastercard take action to use cryptocurrencies for payment and investment purposes.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a major supporter of cryptocurrencies, stated last week that people can now buy the company’s electric vehicles using bitcoin.
“We see heightening demand from consumers around the world to use and hold digital currencies and we are seeing demand from our corporate clients for products that give that access to their consumers,” Cuy Sheffield, leader of crypto at Visa, said.
Normally, if a person uses a Crypto.com Visa to pay for something, the digital currency must be converted into fiat currency before the transaction is complete.
But Visa’s new change will use the ethereum blockchain to remove the need to convert crypto into fiat for transactions to be completed.
Author: Scott Dowdy
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