Soon shoppers could pay for everyday transactions with crypto assets.
Key Details
- Cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX is partnering with Visa to offer debit cards linked to FTX accounts.
- This partnership will make it easier for those with cryptocurrency holdings to make everyday purchases.
- The cards will be linked to the customers FTX accounts and will be able to be used at any store in Visa’s vast network of over 80 million merchants.
Why it’s news
Many people have money in cryptocurrencies, but it isn’t always simple to turn those holdings into cash—now that might not be a problem.
With the FTX and Visa partnership paying with crypto will be as easy as swiping a debit card—literally.
“We believe that digital currencies will have a lasting impact on the future of financial services and money movement,” says Visa’s head of crypto, Cuy Sheffield.
The cards are set to start rolling out in 50 countries, beginning in Latin America and hope to be everywhere in Europe by the end of the year.
Visa already supports debit cards issued by Coinbase, Binance and several others including an FTX card for U.S. customers, according to YahooFinance writer David Hollerith.
“We’re excited to partner with one of the world’s largest payment networks to give our users the ability to utilize their crypto to fund purchases at millions of merchants around the globe,” says FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.
He also says the partnership is just the beginning for the two companies.
Crypto problems
Many people stand firm in the potential of cryptocurrencies, but the last few months have been hard.
June and July were especially brutal months for crypto as the market faced a major sell-off.
Bitcoin dropped 37.3% in June alone, giving it the largest fall since 2011. The sell-off was triggered by inflation fears and investors trying to liquidate. The major sell-off caused job cuts in many crypto companies and even forced some lenders to pause withdrawals. Coinbase shares have dropped more than 60% as well this year due to the tech-stock selloff.The major sell-offs caused many investors to lose a lot of money and contributed to some crypto billionaires getting booted from the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans.
