Visa Processes Over $1Billion In Crypto-Enabled Card Spending

Payment giant Visa announced on Wednesday that its crypto-related cards saw a billion dollars of spending activity in the first half of 2021.

The company made the announcement via an official statement, noting its partnership with 50 major companies in the crypto industry as well as crypto card programs enabling users to convert and spend digital currency at 70 million merchants worldwide.

However, the billion-dollar mark isn’t entirely made up of consumers spending cryptocurrency. Some transactions are tied to fiat accounts but result in crypto rewards; some are indeed crypto transactions. The payments giant didn’t provide a breakdown. 

By comparison, Visa estimated crypto spending at only a fraction of that amount in the same periods last year and in 2019.

Given the size of spending on Visa crypto-linked cards, the company said that “it’s clear that the crypto community sees value in linking digital currencies to Visa’s global network.”

Visa emphasized that its digital currency support does not require global merchants to accept cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin directly though.

Visa powers both cards that allow consumers to easily convert crypto to fiat and spend it as well as cards that allow them to spend fiat and earn crypto as rewards.