During the StarkWare Sessions 2023 event in Tel Aviv, he revealed that they have been testing settlement payments from issuers in USDC on Ethereum, paying out in the same stablecoin.
Visa Wants to Build 'Muscle Memory' with Digital and Fiat Settlements
Sheffield stated that this effort would clone foreign currency exchange executed on the card network's platform. Building "muscle memory" in a global settlement with digital assets and fiat currencies is an area that Visa wants to focus on.
Visa Adopted USDC Stablecoin in March 2021
In March 2021, Visa announced using USDC, a stablecoin backed by the US dollar, to settle a transaction with the network over Ethereum. Sheffield told Blockworks at the time that they wanted to meet crypto-native neo-banks building payment products entirely with digital currency. The ability to make settlement payments in digital currencies could offer benefits and efficiencies to fintech companies running their business in crypto.
Visa's Move to Blockchain Technology
Visa still needs to integrate blockchain technology to support regular money movement on its network, but they are exploring the move. The company has already launched B2B Connect, a blockchain-powered business-to-business payments network. Visa has been among the first financial companies to embrace blockchain and cryptocurrencies and launched a crypto advisory practice in late 2021 to help clients and partners explore opportunities in the space.
