Visa CEO Alfred Kelly says the payment giant is turning to cryptocurrencies “in a very, very big way“. He outlines five key areas of cryptocurrency opportunities Visa focuses on, saying his company is “extremely well positioned”.
During a hearing on Visa earnings for the period ending March 31 last week, the payment giant unveiled its commitment to the cryptocurrency space, highlighting the five key areas in which the company focuses.
He started off by noting that there are “two segments of the market” that his company sees in the field of cryptocurrencies. One is bitcoin, which he described as “primarily an asset owned by humans”. “We see it as digital gold. Then there are digital currencies, including central bank digital currencies and stablecoins, which are directly supported by existing fiat currencies.”
“We focus on five different opportunities that we see in this space. And I would say that this is a space that we are focusing on in a very, very big way and I think we are well placed.”
The first opportunity, according to Alfred Kelly, is “to enable consumers to buy these currencies or bitcoin“. He clarified that “we work hard with wallets and exchanges to make sure that we facilitate the acceptance of the ability of people to use Visa cards for purchase.”
The second option is to “allow digital currency to be redeemed at fiat,” Kelly explained, adding that this means “converting digital currency to fiat with Visa accreditation, which then makes that money available for purchase by any of them.” 70 million traders contracted with Visa, which gives immediate utility to digital currency. ”
“We have over 35 digital currency and wallet platforms that have chosen to work with us. Some examples are Coinbase, Crypto.com, Blockfi, Fold, Bitpanda. So, this is definitely a second great opportunity.”
The third cryptocurrency opportunity Visa focuses on is to enable financial institutions and fintech partners to offer selected cryptocurrencies to their customers.
Kelly explained that Visa “created APIs that allow clients of financial institutions to buy, hold or even exchange digital currencies held by Anchorage, the first federal digital asset bank in the United States. We have made our first with First Boulevard, which is a new type of digital bank focused on building general wealth for the black community. ”
The fourth opportunity is “settlement”. As the CEO said: “We have advanced our infrastructure to allow a financial institution to arrange all of this into a stablecoin digital currency, starting with the USDC.”
The fifth and final area of cryptocurrency opportunities “is simply working with central banks,” Kelly said.
