This article discusses this press release from Visa that indicates spend of crypto at merchants that accept the Visa card has topped 1 billion dollars in the first half of 2021. Visa indicates its cards are connected to crypto assets held by 50 different cryptocurrency platforms. This is a significant creation of new value that is now finding its way into the more traditional economy through card networks.
In March Visa announced the intent to perform settlement with merchants that are interested using the USD Coin, a stablecoin pegged to the United States dollar. Mercator doubts that this settlement scenario will see an increase in usage anything like the spend side announced above:
“Visa Inc (V.N) said on Wednesday its customers spent more than $1 billion on its crypto-linked cards in the first half of this year, as the payments processor takes steps to make crypto transactions smoother.
The company said it was partnering with 50 cryptocurrency platforms to make it easier for customers to convert and spend digital currencies at 70 million merchants worldwide.
The move is in line with Visa’s broader acceptance of digital currencies. In March, the company announced it will allow the use of the USD Coin to settle transactions on its payment network.”
Overview by Tim Sloane, VP, Payments Innovation at Mercator Advisory Group
