Visa executive denies reports that it will suspend new partnerships with cryptocurrency companies

Continue partnership with cryptocurrency companies

Cuy Sheffield, head of crypto assets (virtual currencies) at payment giant Visa, denied a Reuters report on the company on the 1st.

Reuters reported on February 28, citing sources, that “Visa and Mastercard have suspended new partnerships with cryptocurrency companies following the bankruptcy of a prominent company.” Sheffield said the Reuters report was incorrect about Visa and said it still has partnerships with cryptocurrency companies.

He explained that the reason for continuing the partnership is to improve the environment for using fiat currency. In order to carry out future plans, we are still partnering to make stablecoins safe and convenient to use.

And Sheffield says:

1/ This story is inaccurate as it pertains to Visa, here’s the reality https://t.co/oAEaj7MsX0

— Cuy Sheffield (@cuysheffield) February 28, 2023

connection: What is a stablecoin that even beginners can understand | Explain features and use cases

Visa’s efforts

Recently, it has been reported that Visa is actively working on virtual currency-related businesses.

Sheffield said on May 5 that Visa was testing stablecoin USDC payments on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain. He explained that the subject of the test is large payments. Visa says it wants to be able to exchange tokenized dollars for traditional dollars, much like dollars and euros are exchanged internationally.

connection: Visa Tests Large USDC Payments on Ethereum Blockchain

On the 13th of last month, Wirex, which provides virtual currency payment services, announced a new partnership with Visa. The partnership will allow Wirex to issue cryptocurrency-enabled debit and prepaid cards in more than 40 countries around the world.

connection: Visa signs a strategic partnership with Wirex, a virtual currency settlement company

Mastercard comments

In response to this report, a representative of Mastercard commented to the cryptocurrency media “CoinDesk”, “We plan to continue working with partners to bring payment solutions and programs to the market.” It seems that he did not mention the “new partnership” reported by Reuters, but he seems to have shown a positive attitude towards the cryptocurrency business.

Others commented as follows.

Like Visa, Mastercard also focuses on virtual currency-related businesses. In January of this year, it announced that it would implement the “Mastercard Artist Accelerator,” a Web3 training program for music artists, based on Polygon (MATIC) blockchain.

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