Visa, a top credit card company, has revealed its partnership plans with Circle Internet Financial (CIF), popularly known as Circle, an Ethereum Digital-Dollar Startup and a developer of global payments network with over 60 million traders. This joint venture program will see that the merchants are connected to the U.S. Dollar Coin (USDC), whose value is currently estimated to be $2.9 billion.
The partnership will bring in Circle to work with Visa to aid the selection of outlets issuing credit cards to initiate the USDC program’s adaption in their services. They can now transact USDC imbursements. CIF is also acclimating to a similar Fast Trackway of action. This would mean that payments made in USDC can be cashed into respective currency for businesses backed by Visa.
Visa is expected to have advanced from Fast Track in about a year. It will then herald the issuing of credit cards from Visa to enable the transfer of USDC between businesses. Cuy Sheffield, Visa head of crypto, confirmed the news and added that this move would raise the utility of USDC owned by Circle customers.
A clear proof of Visa’s trust in this innovation’s role in the future of money is that it made a $40 million investment in a crypto setup for the same resources and other factors.
Visa had contracted 25 crypto wallet suppliers (Fold and Cred among them) in the Fast Track schedule before the collaboration. These firms now have roles in the incorporation. For instance, BlockFi revealed that it would unveil Bitcoin rewards on Visa to use USDC in the coming year.
USDC transactions take about 20 seconds and are almost free. This is an advantage Visa is hugely considering.
The Visa network already has subbranches such as Visa Net and Swift Interbank, and its joining crypto is the peak. It is called “a network of networks.” Its first partnership was with Coinbase in February 2020. Terry Angelos said that most of Visa’s partners do not use crypto like Bitcoin.
In the previous year, Visa invested $40 million in Anchorage as its first revealed venture. This shows its interest in startup firms. Sheffield said that partnership with Anchorage is vital for central banks dealing in cryptos (CBDCs).
For more information on the history of Visa, Circle, and Visa’s research, click here to learn more.
