- Visa and Circle partners to launch USDC payment
- USDC payment service on Visa to begin 2021
Visa announced its partnership with blockchain firm Circle to enable USDC payment with a credit card.
The payment firm said it was linking its payments network of 60 million merchants to the USDC stablecoin through this partnership.
The partnership’s primary aim is to unlock fast, cheap (and potentially international) payments as USDC would be sent to anywhere where the payment firm operates. Since it runs on the Ethereum blockchain, the cost for payments would be reduced and confirmed in seconds. It is worthy of mention that Visa presently estimates about $120 trillion of payments made using wire transfers and checks, which can cost $50 each.
According to head of crypto of the payment firm, Cuy Sheffield, it would mark as the first-ever card that allows firms to spend a balance of USDC. The payment firm also announced it was partnering BlockFi on Tuesday to launch a new credit card that rewards users with Bitcoin. That was basically towards improving the adoption of Bitcoin.
The partnership is primed to succeed as over twenty wallet providers are already demanding the Fast track plan. They are setting the tone for the Visa USDC project.
Visa’s continued interest in cryptocurrencies
The payment firm has continued to pursue their interest in digital assets. Recently,it invested $40 million in crypto startup Anchorage.
The firm’s head of crypto, Cuy Sheffield, also noted that they might expand to other stablecoin or blockchain network.
While Sheffield talked about Visa’s investment in Anchorage, he said that it was crucial to Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC). The investment would put the payment firm in a position to take advantage if the US treasury decides to roll out a digital dollar.
The partnership to enable USDC payment according to Josh Hawkins, Circle spokesperson is targeted for launch sometime in 2021.
