Visa Picks Ethereum Over Facebook Libra to Settle Payments; ETH/USD Up

[Micky]

Ether, the de-facto settlement token of the Ethereum blockchain, rallied on Monday after global payment giant Visa became the ledger’s latest supporter.

The firm, which can handle 24,000 transactions per second, announced that it would offer users the option to settle transactions in Ethereum-based stablecoin USDC, becoming the first major payment services provider to have integrated a dollar-pegged cryptocurrency into its legacy systems.

Crypto.com joined Visa to enable the latter’s stablecoin-focused pilot program. In doing so, the crypto firm would allow Visa to engage in their physical cards, thereby gaining the privilege to settle transactions in USDC in addition to fiat currencies. The partnership would remove the need for users to go through additional asset conversions.

“The announcement today marks a major milestone in our ability to address the needs of fintechs managing their business in a stablecoin or cryptocurrency,” said Visa’s chief product officer Jack Forestell. “And it’s really an extension of what we do every day, securely facilitating payments in all different currencies all across the world.”

Visa’s move followed its withdrawal from a similar stablecoin project — launched by social media giant Facebook — in 2019. The firm decided against integrating “Libra” after Mark Zuckerberg’s foray into the cryptocurrency sector met with skepticism from lawmakers and regulators alike.

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