Visa has been playing a crucial role in driving the adoption of digital assets by integrating conventional payment cards into cryptocurrency exchange offerings. Akshay Chopra, VISA’s VP head of Innovation & Design, spoke to Cointelegraph reporter Ezra Reguerra during a panel at the Blockchain Economy Dubai Summit and highlighted the role that Visa cards have played as a bridge between fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies. This has enabled customers to use cryptocurrencies as a means of payment for everyday items like a cup of coffee at a cafe. Visa partnered with 75 of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in 2021 to allow them to issue Visa cards, which opened up a network of some 80 million Visa merchants that could serve customers that prefer to use cryptocurrencies as a means of payment. This facilitated $3 billion of payment volume. Payments settlement between financial institutions is another avenue that is ripe for disruption and innovation through blockchain-based solutions. Chopra mentioned existing protocols like the SWIFT payment system still have limitations, including not being fully functional 24 hours a day. Visa and Circle carried out a pilot using USD Coin (USDC) to enable a number of cryptocurrency exchange partners to settle payments with USDC at the end of a given day. This was cheaper than traditional methods, happened 24/7 and was innovative. Regulations remain a hurdle for mainstream financial institutions to truly tap into blockchain technology and cryptocurrency-based payments. However, Akshay believes that progressive regulatory environments in jurisdictions like the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been more beneficial to industry participants when compared to reactive regulations in countries like the United States. Visa made headlines in April 2023 with the launch of a crypto product roadmap that aims to drive adoption of stablecoin and public blockchain payments by mainstream financial institutions. The company is also set to invest $100 million to explore innovative AI-powered products and solutions focused on payments and commerce through Visa Ventures.

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Information	Details
Geography	North America
Countries	🇦🇪 🇺🇸 🇨🇺
Sentiment	positive
Relevance Score	8
People	Ezra Reguerra, Circle, SWIFT, Akshay Chopra, Visa.
Companies	Circle, Ethereum, SWIFT, VISA, USD Coin
Currencies	USDC, US Dollar, Ethereum, SwiftCash, Bitcoin
Securities	None