According to sources, Visa and Mastercard will delay the launch of new blockchain partnerships until market conditions improve and a clearer regulatory framework is established, reports Cointelegraph.
According to a Reuters report published on 28 February, American payment processors Visa and Mastercard have delayed the launch of new partnerships with crypto firms due to high-profile bankruptcies in the industry that led to increased regulatory scrutiny. The move follows a period of warming relations between payment giants and crypto firms as the popularity of cryptocurrencies exploded, with Mastercard exploring payments in USD Coin and Visa targeting stablecoin settlements weeks before today’s development.
Both Visa and Mastercard are said to be pushing back the launch of certain products and services related to crypto until market conditions and the regulatory environment improve. The delays are reportedly due to an uncertain regulatory crypto environment following the collapse and bankruptcies of digital asset custodial firms, such as Celsius, FTX, Three Arrows Capital, Voyager Digital and others, within the past year. According to a spokesperson at Visa:
“Recent high-profile failures in the crypto sector are an important reminder that we have a long way to go before crypto becomes a part of mainstream payments and financial services.”
In a tweet written by Cuy Sheffield, head of product at Visa, Sheffield says that the Reuters report is “inaccurate” and that Visa “continue to partner with crypto companies to improve fiat on and off ramps as well as progress on our product roadmap to build new products that can facilitate stablecoin payments in a secure, compliant, and convenient way.”
“Despite the challenges and uncertainty 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.”
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