Visa to settle payments in USDC on Ethereum blockchain

Global payments network Visa has announced that it now settles payments in the USDC stablecoin on the Ethereum blockchain.

Visa has now become the first major payments company to use stablecoins as a settlement currency, in spite of concerns from regulators in the US.

According to a press release, Visa is initially working with Crypto.com who will manage its card business now entirely in cryptocurrencies.

“The announcement today marks a major milestone in our ability to address the needs of fintechs managing their business in a stablecoin or cryptocurrency,” said Visa’s Chief Product Officer Jack Forestell. “And it’s really an extension of what we do every day, securely facilitating payments in all different currencies all across the world.”

Visa will also work with crypto bank Anchorage, which will see Crypto.com send USDC to Visa’s Ethereum wallet at Anchorage.

“Visa came to us in 2019 with an idea—make secure, efficient, and seamless settlement payments possible in digital currency by linking Visa’s treasury with Anchorage’s custody platform,” said Diogo Mónica, co-founder and president of Anchorage. “This would give the next generation of crypto native issuers the option to directly settle with Visa in a digital currency over a public blockchain.”

Visa CEO Al Kelly stated earlier this month that it plans to enable the use of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) in its network.

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