Visa uses USD Coin stablecoin in its transactions

Payments company Visa today revealed a plan to use the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin on the Ethereum blockchain formaking payment transactions on its network, writes Reuters.

To this end, Visa has launched a pilot program incooperation with the Crypto.com service. During the year, the company intends to expand the list of partners after consultation with clients, investors and regulators. Thus, Visa becomes the first major payment network to use stablecoin as a currency for settlements. Until that time, Visa only allowed payments in fiat currencies.

“We are seeing an increase in customer demand duringaround the world for the ability to access, hold and use digital currencies. In addition, we see a demand among our clients for creating products that would provide such access, ”said Kai Sheffield, head of the Visa cryptocurrency business.

Under normal conditions, when paying with cryptocurrency, itconverted into traditional money, which makes doing business more expensive and difficult. The new program will eliminate the need to convert digital currencies into traditional ones for transactions.

A digital bank also takes part in the projectAnchorage. Partners have already completed their first transaction, sending USDC from Crypto.com to Visa's Anchorage address. Visa first approached them in 2019 with the idea to combine the two platforms for secure and efficient payments based on digital currencies, Anchorage said.

“Today's announcement marks an importantattainment. We will now be able to meet the needs of the financial technology industry, who need to conduct transactions in stablecoins or cryptocurrencies. This is a continuation of our day-to-day work to secure payments in multiple currencies, ”said Jack Forstell, Visa Product Director.

Visa's new program is described as “onea small step forward ”for the payment platform, but at the same time“ one giant step forward ”for the proliferation of digital assets. Going forward, Visa plans to add support for central bank digital currencies to its network.

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