Recently, Reuters reported that payment giants Visa and Mastercard are putting their crypto-related ventures on hold due to “high-profile collapses”.
An unnamed representative for Visa was quoted saying that “recent high-profile failures in the crypto sector are an important reminder that we have a long way to go before crypto becomes a part of mainstream payments and financial services”.
The Visa spokesperson added that, despite the failures, the company is not changing their cryptocurrency and blockchain strategy. As for the Mastercard representative, they stated that they will continue focusing on the underlying blockchain technology and how it can be used to mitigate current issues and build more efficient systems.
In mid-February 2023, Wirex announced that it has formed a partnership with Visa — which contradicted the report that Reuters published. Prior to the FTX collapse, Visa and Blockchain.com collaborated to launch a crypto debit card.
The piece is incorrect as it relates to Visa, according to a tweet from Cuy Sheffield, head of crypto at Visa. Visa continues “to partner with crypto companies to improve fiat on and off ramps as well as progress on our product roadmap to build new products that can facilitate stablecoin payments in a secure, compliant, and convenient way,” said Sheffield.
Sheffield stated that Visa still believes that, nonetheless, “fiat-backed digital currencies running on public blockchains have the potential to play an important role in the payments ecosystem.”
The cryptocurrency sector has seen a number of number of high profile failures and bankruptcies, including numerous companies that had issued debit cards, including FTX, Celsius, and Blockfi. Several cryptocurrency companies’ debit cards were cancelled and rendered useless after they folded.
