Visa is deepening its involvement in the cryptocurrency space to enhance the efficiency of cross-border payments. The company has expanded its stablecoin settlement capabilities by integrating Circle’s USDC stablecoin with the Solana blockchain, known for its high-speed performance. Visa claims to be one of the first major financial institutions to utilize the Solana network extensively for settlements. As a result of this development, the value of SOL has increased by nearly 2%, while Bitcoin and the broader CoinDesk Market Index have experienced a decline. Additionally, Visa has initiated pilot programs with merchant acquirers Worldpay and Nuvei, allowing their clients to opt for USDC stablecoin settlement instead of traditional fiat currencies. This move follows Visa’s previous testing of USDC for treasury operations in 2021, including a pilot program with Crypto.com for settling cross-border payments using Ethereum blockchain. Cuy Sheffield, the head of crypto at Visa, stated that by leveraging stablecoins like USDC and global blockchain networks such as Solana and Ethereum, Visa aims to improve the speed of cross-border settlements and provide a modern solution for clients to send or receive funds from Visa’s treasury.
Visa has partnered with Solana blockchain and the USDC stablecoin to enhance cross-border payment capabilities.
The company said it is one of the first major payment institutions to use directly the Solana network for settlements.
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[…] Visa‘s e-HKD program introduces an innovative approach to tokenizing deposits. This process entails converting bank deposits into digital tokens on a blockchain ledger, backed by the bank’s balance sheet. The pilot demonstrated the ability for interbank transfers to achieve final settlement in near real-time. When a transfer occurred, the sending bank would burn the tokenized deposits on its ledger, while the receiving bank would mint them on its ledger. Simultaneously, interbank settlements took place via the simulated wholesale CBDC layer. Importantly, Visa’s platform operated seamlessly around the clock, surpassing traditional payment systems that often have downtime after business hours and on weekends. […]
[…] Visa‘s e-HKD program introduces an innovative approach to tokenizing deposits. This process entails converting bank deposits into digital tokens on a blockchain ledger, backed by the bank’s balance sheet. The pilot demonstrated the ability for interbank transfers to achieve final settlement in near real-time. When a transfer occurred, the sending bank would burn the tokenized deposits on its ledger, while the receiving bank would mint them on its ledger. Simultaneously, interbank settlements took place via the simulated wholesale CBDC layer. Importantly, Visa’s platform operated seamlessly around the clock, surpassing traditional payment systems that often have downtime after business hours and on weekends. […]
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