Visa Exec criticizes the Reuters story and says the company remains bullish on crypto

Visa Exec criticizes the Reuters story and says the company remains bullish on crypto

Visa's crypto chief dismissed as inaccurate an earlier Reuters report about the company stopping crypto-related startups.

Instead, he said Visa will continue to work with more cryptocurrency firms that can facilitate stablecoin payments despite the ongoing bear market.

Visa exec dismisses Reuters report

In one Tweet thread On Tuesday (February 28, 2023), Cuy Sheffield, head of crypto at Visa, responded to an earlier Reuters report on the company, stating that the publication was inaccurate.

Sheffield said:

“Despite the challenges and uncertainties in the crypto ecosystem, our view has not changed that fiat-backed digital currencies running on public blockchains have the potential to play an important role in the payments ecosystem.”

Visa CEO Alfred Kelly made a similar statement in January 2023 about the significant role of stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDC) in the payments sector, adding that the company had already put money into several crypto funds and several blockchain initiatives were underway.

Reuters previously reported that Mastercard and Visa would pause potential partnerships with crypto companies following the demise of some key players. The publication quoted anonymous sources as saying that both firms will not move forward with launching crypto-related products until there are improved regulations and the market is less volatile. The report also quoted a statement from a Visa spokesperson saying:

“The recent high-profile failures in the crypto sector are an important reminder that we still have a long way to go before crypto becomes a part of mainstream payments and financial services.”

Although Visa has severed its relationship with now-bankrupt FTX and terminated its global debit card agreement with the crypto exchange, Sheffield said the payments giant will continue to work with crypto firms.

Financial firms are wary of crypto after FTX collapse

While there appears to be no official comment from Mastercard at the time of writing, the company partnered with cryptocurrency exchange giant Binance in January 2023. As already reported byCryptoPotatoMastercard and Binance have teamed up to launch a prepaid card in Brazil, repeating the same initiative already carried out in Argentina.

Reports of Visa and Mastercard withdrawing planned crypto integrations come amid mainstream financial firms limiting their exposure to the crypto space. This has become a growing trend since the FTX collapse. Fears about regulatory action in the US could also contribute to other companies distancing themselves from the crypto industry. This is already the case with US banks and large accounting firms.

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