Visa Creates Service To Advise Financial Institutions On Cryptocurrencies
December 08 2021 - 11:41PM
NEWSBTC
It’s a new dawn. Credit card giant Visa is now in the
cryptocurrency business. They won’t be buying and selling yet,
though. Its new division will focus on advising everyone. From
retail customers to financial institutions, even central banks can
get information from Visa’s crypto experts. A lot of people still
value the input traditional institutions can give, even if they
don’t have the track record. So this seems to be good news for the
crypto industry as a whole. Related Reading | As Amazon Takes on
Visa, Does Cryptocurrency Offer the Real Alternative? Reuters
informs: “Visa’s services include educating institutions about
cryptocurrencies, allowing clients to use the payment processor’s
network for digital offerings, and helping manage backend
operations.” And Visa promises: “Tap crypto’s potential with a
pioneer in global payments. For crypto to realize its full
potential, we are connecting crypto and blockchain networks to our
trusted, global payment network. And we’re propelling innovation to
deliver even more access and value to the crypto ecosystem.” Visa’s
CFO Still Doesn’t Understand Bitcoin In a bizarre move, considering
they’re offering expert advice in cryptocurrencies, Visa’s CFO said
the darndest thing. Vasant Prabhu told Reuters: “If the price is
going to fluctuate from $60,000 to $50,000 in a few hours, it’s a
very difficult thing for a merchant to accept (bitcoin) as a
currency. I don’t know if cryptocurrencies like bitcoin will ever
be a medium of exchange. Stablecoins will.” Bitcoin is already a
medium of exchange. It’s legal tender in an entire country. It’s a
process, but merchants will quickly learn the benefits of holding a
deflationary currency instead of an inflationary one. If Prabhu
doesn’t understand this, how does he expect his clients to take his
advice seriously? BTC price chart for 12/09/2021 on Gemini |
Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com What Did Visa’s Crypto Research
Department Found Out? As an introduction to the company’s crypto
research department, the company says, “For financial institutions
eager to attract or retain customers with a crypto offering,
retailers looking to delve into NFTs, or central banks exploring
digital currencies, understanding the crypto ecosystem is a vital
first step.” As the first show of power, they produced “The Crypto
Phenomenon: Consumer Attitudes & Usage.” A report that, among
other things, found out the following: “Almost universal awareness
of cryptocurrency at 94% globally among adults with discretion over
their household finances.” “Nearly one in three crypto-aware
consumers already own or use cryptocurrency, with the majority
saying that their use has increased in the past year (62% Owners),
and two-thirds expecting that they will increase the share of their
investable assets invested in crypto in the next 12 months (66%
Owners).” “In Emerging Markets, ownership (37%) and curiosity about
(27%) cryptocurrency is even more pronounced.” “The biggest drivers
of owning and using cryptocurrency are to take part in the
“financial way of the future” (42% Owners) and to build wealth (41%
Owners)” “Most crypto owners would be interested in buying
cryptocurrency from their bank (85% Owners)” “More than a third of
current owners indicate that they plan to switch to a bank that
offers crypto products within the next 12 months (39% Owners).”
“The significant majority of consumers who use cryptocurrency
express interest in crypto-linked cards (83% Active Owners) and
rewards (86% Active Owners).” Related Reading | Visa Is Building A
Payment Channel Network On Ethereum Conclusions To Avoid Confusion
Even though Visa’s study seems to be skewed to what its clients
need to hear to acquire their new service, the results are
interesting. It’s useful to see what the research department of a
company with that kind of resources can come up with. Let’s hope
they keep it coming. And let’s also hope that Visa’s CTO reads “The
Bitcoin Standard,” because that quote was embarrassing. Featured
Image: Visa and Bitcoin, taken from their site | Charts by
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