- Visa is planning a huge push for crypto adoption according to its Head of Crypot
- Cuy Sheffield told NDTV that the company is hoping to onboard some 80 million merchants into a crypto payment network
- Visa has already signed up 60 crypto platforms to make using crypto easier
Visa’s head of crypto Cuy Sheffield has revealed how the company plans to be at the centre of a web of some 80 million merchants as it plans to connect the world’s commerce to the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Sheffield was interviewed by Indian news outlet NDTV where he revealed the extent of Visa’s crypto plans and the progress they have made so far in carrying them out. We run through the key points from his interview.
Visa Targets 80 Million Merchants Accepting Crypto
Sheffield said that Visa wants to be at the centre of a web of “a global network of 80 million merchant locations and more than 15,000 financial institutions” accepting and working with cryptocurrencies. This will be done through increased abilities to spend and use cryptocurrencies via tie-ins with exchanges and the easy sending of stablecoins.
Exchange Partnerships Already Facilitating Plans
Visa has already partnered with “more than 60 of the leading crypto platforms, like FTX, BlockFi, Crypto.com, Coinbase, and Binance” according to Sheffield, launching card programs that are facilitating this onboarding of 80 million merchants and connecting them to cryptocurrency users.
Visa has “more than doubled our number of partnerships with crypto platforms in the last 18 months – up to 60 partnerships today” Sheffield added, showing that Visa is certainly putting its money where its mouth is.
NFTs Will be Multipurpose
Visa is known to be bullish on NFTs, having purchased a CryptoPunk in August, and Sheffield told NDTV that NFTs will play an “important role in the future of retail, social media, entertainment and commerce”.
There exists however a knowledge gap between crypto natives and merchants, with Sheffield saying that it is “necessary to understand what it takes to acquire, custody and interact with an NFT” before enterprises can “really understand how to sell NFTs or bring to market NFT-enabled products.”
