Payments giant Visa has been quite vocal about its interest in the crypto-verse. Seems like being an active participant in the crypto market really paid off. The CFO of the firm revealed that the company facilitated over $2.5 billion in payments with its crypto-linked cards. All of this only during Visa’s fiscal first quarter.
Visa first made news in the crypto-verse following its decision to add support for prominent cryptocurrencies. This was then followed by an array of developments in the same industry. Now, the platform was seen reaping what it sowed.
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In a recent interview with CNBC, Visa’s CFO, Vasant Prabhu pointed out the usage of the firm’s crypto-linked cards. Prabhu said,
“To us, this signals that consumers see utility in having a Visa card linked to an account at a crypto platform. There’s value in being able to access that liquidity, to fund purchases and manage expenses, and to do so instantly and seamlessly.”
The recently achieved number was reportedly 70% of Visa’s crypto volume throughout fiscal 2021. The platform managed to hit $1 billion with its crypto-linked card usage only after the first six months of 2021. But now, the platform managed to double this in just a single quarter.
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This not only sheds light on the increased usage of crypto but also Visa’s global reach. Prabhu further revealed that these numbers were achieved through a broad category of spending. The volumes weren’t garnered through a specific merchant. Users were employing their crypto-linked cards in retail, restaurants as well as travel. The payments giant entails about 100 million vendors.
Visa and its Crypto Connection
From NFTs to CBDCs, Visa has been dipping its toes into all things crypto. The firm recently made news after it teamed up with Ethereum-backed ConsenSys to work on CBDCs. The payments giant has rightfully realized that crypto is the future and was working towards bridging the digitalization gap.
Addressing Visa’s position in crypto, CEO Alfred Kelly stated on the earnings call,
“We will continue to lean into the crypto space and our strategy is to be a key partner to provide the connectivity, scale, consumer value proposition, reliability and security that is needed for crypto offerings to continue to grow.”
Additionally, the volatility of cryptocurrencies got several individuals sitting on the fence, Visa pointed out that it might be changing. Prabhu suggests that the payment volume in crypto continues to soar despite its volatility.