Payments giant Visa partnered with major crypto company Crypto.com in order to settle transactions in the second-largest steblecoin USD Coin (USDC) with Visa over Ethereum (ETH).
"Working with Anchorage, the first federally chartered digital asset bank and an exclusive Visa digital currency settlement partner, Visa has launched a pilot that allows CRYPTO.COM to send USDC to Visa to settle a portion of its obligations for the Crypto.com Visa card program," the payments company said, adding that it plans to offer the USDC settlement capability to additional partners later this year.
Per the company, the ability to settle in USDC can help Crypto.com and other crypto native companies evaluate fundamentally new business models without the need for traditional fiat in their treasury and settlement workflows.
Visa’s standard settlement process for purchases made on Crypto.com Visa cards each day, requires Crypto.com to convert their digital currencies into a traditional fiat currency that Visa accepts — adding cost, time, and complexity to their daily business processes, the company explained.
"Visa’s treasury upgrades and integration with Anchorage also strengthen Visa’s ability to directly support new central bank digital currency (CBDC) as they emerge in the future," they added.
According to Jack Forestell, Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer of Visa, this announcement "marks a major milestone in our ability to address the needs of fintechs managing their business in a stablecoin or cryptocurrency."
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