The CEO of Visa spoke about plans for cryptocurrency payments during a teleconference on the company’s financial activities for the first quarter of 2021.
In his speech, Visa CEO Alfred Kelly said the company is ready to make cryptocurrency payments safer and more widely used by working with the firm’s partners.
Visa plans to work with wallets and exchanges so that users can buy cryptoassets, he said. In addition, the company intends to provide users with the ability to cash out and make purchases in fiat currency using cryptocurrencies.
Kelly also voiced Visa’s position on digital assets. At the moment, the company distinguishes two classes of crypto assets: assets like bitcoin – “digital gold”, and assets backed by fiat currencies, including stablecoins and digital currencies of central banks. He called the second category “a new payment innovation with potential for global trade.”
The CEO of Visa also said that the company can provide the ability to use cryptocurrency as a payment instrument without first converting it into fiat currency for payments.
“It goes without saying that if a particular digital currency becomes a recognized medium of exchange, there is no reason why we cannot add it to our network, which already supports over 160 currencies today,” said Kelly.
Recall that last summer, Visa planned to redouble its efforts to “shape and support the role of cryptocurrencies in the future of money,” and in December the company proposed a method of offline payments in state cryptocurrencies.
