While crypto assets are currently navigating bearish waters, the positive sentiment surrounding blockchain and its underlying technology is palpable. In fact, Visa CEO Alfred F. Kelly recently expressed similar optimism. The executive said the company may integrate blockchain-powered solutions into its services to support next-generation payments.
Visa's annual shareholder meeting is held on Tuesday. During the presentation, Kelly spoke about the company's CBDC and private stablecoin plans. After emphasizing that the technology is still in its “early stages,” Kelly mentioned that the firm believes stablecoins and CBDCs can play an important role in the payments sector. He also briefly revealed that Visa was working on "a number of initiatives."
The company currently allows users to purchase cryptocurrencies and NFTs with Visa cards. Additionally, users can convert cryptocurrencies or stablecoins into fiat currency using the Visa card. Currently, more than 100 million merchants around the world accept Visa.
Visa is exploring options to allow automated payments via Ethereum wallets. In late December 2022, the credit card giant released a proposal outlining how users could set up automatic payments directly from their own self-custodial wallets by eliminating banks and other centralized entities from the equation. The past year has been quite dismal for the crypto market. Exchange crashes, bankruptcy filings and price stagnation are prominent features of 2022. Nevertheless, Visa managed to protect itself and suffered no losses
