Visa Facilitated Over $1 Billion in Cryptocurrency Spending During The First Hal...

Making cryptocurrencies more appealing to mainstream consumers remains an ongoing struggle. Despite numerous innovations in the industry, merchants remain hesitant to accept crypto payments directly. However, Visa has proven to be a valuable facilitator for spending crypto assets, a trend that benefits the company.

How Crypto Benefits Visa

It is impressive to see how Visa, the well-known issuer of payment cards, has embraced cryptocurrency. That situation was very different a few years ago. Then, Bitcoin and other assets were still in the early stage of development and acceptance. Today, things look slightly better, even though there is still plenty of work to do. In a new report, Visa confirms it has surpassed $1 billion in spending from cryptocurrencies throughout the first half of 2021.

Although that figure may not seem significant, it is a substantial increase over the past two years. Both 2019 and 202 saw a fraction of that billion dollars being spent via cryptocurrencies. While no exact details are available, it seems as if consumers are taking a stronger liking to use Bitcoin and similar assets for payments. As these payment cards make that process a lot simpler, there is no reason not to explore that option.

The crypto industry must gain more traction as a payment alternative. Making consumers think about how they pay for goods and services is a major first step. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other supported assets are viable options to pay for goods and services at their core. Even with their volatile nature, one can never overlook that aspect. With a Visa payment card, a lot of friction is removed from the equation.

Moreover, Visa CFO Vasant Prabhu confirms there is an increase in people buying cryptocurrencies from regulated exchanges. That is a healthy sign and a trend that will likely continue for some time to come. Global demand for exposure to cryptocurrencies is on the rise, even after prices fell by over 50% in recent weeks. 

Expanding The List Of Visa Partners

A development on this scale would not be possible without forging solid partnerships. Visa acknowledges the potential of partnering with strong crypto brands to make bigger things happen. To date, there are partnerships in place with Coinbase, BlockFi, and Circle. All of these companies let users spend from their wallets at over 70 million merchants globally. 

Furthermore, Visa estimates that cryptocurrency-abed payments will keep growing. More so, it may disrupt the $189 trillion market of cash and check payments globally. Of course, that would require a significant increase in crypto spending, but it is not impossible to attain that goal. After Bitcoin topped the $1 trillion market cap earlier this year, it is a matter of time until that happens again. The world’s leading cryptocurrency continues to perform very well on a yearly basis, despite minor short-term hiccups along the way.

Visa has no plans of adding cryptocurrencies to its balance sheet like other publicly traded companies. That is because cryptocurrencies are not essential to Visa’s day-to-day business operations at this time. Moreover, the company does not get paid in crypto, nor do they pay people in crypto. Whether that situation changes or not remains to be determined. 

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