During the rise of crypto assets, traditional financial institutions like VISA and Mastercard were quick to jump on the bandwagon, announcing new initiatives involving Bitcoin, Ethereum or other cryptocurrencies.
These same companies are now rethinking their strategy in the wake of the FTX crash and other negative industry events, according to a new report.
Report: VISA and Mastercard Put Crypto Plans on Pause
An anonymous source said Reuters that both VISA and Mastercard have withdrawn plans to launch crypto-centric services until global financial regulators establish clearer controls aimed at avoiding situations like the one that unfolded last November involving FTX.
A VISA spokesperson made a reassuring statement that the company’s cryptocurrency strategy will not change, but called the failures of companies such as the aforementioned FTX, BlockFi, Celsius and others “an important reminder” that there is a “long road ahead.” to go before cryptocurrencies become part of mainstream payments and financial services.”
Mastercard did not echo the same support for cryptocurrency, instead focusing on the underlying blockchain technology. The credit card giant claims that blockchain will “help address current pain points and build more efficient systems.”
Collapses like these are keeping companies away from the nascent industry | TOTAL on TradingView.com
The post-Fallout impact on major payment brands
These brands have in the past been associated with failing cryptocurrency companies, which could have costly consequences. For example, VISA had credit card deals with FTX, and BlockFi issued a Bitcoin rewards credit card that has since become unusable after the bankruptcy.
Outside of card associations, VISA had been considering Ethereum as a digital payment settlement layer. Mastercard has a full website landing page dedicated to explaining in detail how the company approaches “crypto and blockchain”, providing useful statistics that present the positive future potential of cryptocurrencies for digital payments.
The two companies hope to adapt to the rapidly changing digital payments landscape.
Bitcoin and Ethereum: disruption of digital payments
In related news, at $23,500 per coin, Bitcoin’s total market cap is worth just $12 billion less than VISA, and more than $100 billion more valuable than Mastercard.
In 2022, VISA processed more than $6 trillion in total value and Mastercard $2.5 trillion. Meanwhile, Bitcoin processed more than $8 trillion in the same time period. Last year, while DeFi and NFT were all the rage, Ethereum processed more than 4.5 times the total value of transactions that VISA did.
