Bitcoin And Ethereum Prices Soar As Visa Adopts New Crypto Payments Method

Bitcoin and Ethereum surged on Monday after credit card provider Visa Inc. announced that it now settles payments in the USDC stablecoin on the Ethereum blockchain.

The move, being the latest sign of increased adoption of digital currencies by the financial industry, caused the price of Bitcoin to jump more than $1,500 within the hour.

Bitcoin went up more than 4 percent to reach $58,308. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency was up 4 percent to reach $1,770, according to data from Coindesk.com.

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A press release showed that Crypto.com sent a USDC transaction to an account at Anchorage custody under Visa’s name. Crypto.com issues “crypto-backed” Visa cards which allow its users to spend the coins in their Crypto.com wallet. Visa plans to extend the offer to additional partners later this year.

“Visa’s standard settlement process requires partners to settle in a traditional fiat currency, which can add cost and complexity for businesses built with digital currencies. The ability to settle in USDC can ultimately help Crypto.com and other crypto native companies evaluate fundamentally new business models without the need for traditional fiat in their treasury and settlement workflows.

"Visa’s treasury upgrades and integration with Anchorage also strengthen Visa’s ability to directly support new central bank digital currency (CBDC) as they emerge in the future,” Visa said in a statement.

Visa's move comes as major financial firms including BNY Mellon, BlackRock Inc, and Mastercard Inc have embraced some digital coins, sparking predictions that cryptocurrencies will become a regular part of investment portfolios.

The development means Visa has become the first major payments network to use stablecoin as a settlement currency. Before now, Visa settled payments in fiat currencies only.