Sam Bankman’s FTX crypto exchange platform recently announced a major partnership with the Visa payment processing platform to permit crypto payments to 40 countries across the globe. The moves come as no surprise from Sam Bankman, who has repeatedly expressed his view about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies being used as payments.
The announcement revealed that FTX would introduce a debit card in collaboration with the Visa payment platform. The revelation will ensure crypto enthusiasts could easily transact with crypto alot easier than it is now.
The move to partner with Visa instead of other crypto-based payment platforms was expected from Sam Bankman, as he has repeatedly commented on the impracticality of the Bitcoin network being used as a seamless payment network.
The partnership will allow crypto users to spend cryptocurrencies when buying everyday goods such as groceries and other household items. A major boost to this movement is that the FTX/Visa debit card will allow users to transact without attracting additional fees. The card will be free to crypto users as indicated on the crypto exchange platform.
How FTX partnership with Visa impacts crypto payments
The FTX partnership with Visa comes after Mastercard began associating with cryptocurrencies. The move from the Visa payment platform is viewed as direct competition for the crypto space. However, the current crypto market is in Winter, and many tokens are losing value by the day.
The crypto bear market may continue for prolonged periods; however, experts are confident that the bullish market will soon resume. And increased adoption of cryptocurrencies during the bull market could lead to more demand for regular crypto acceptance. The FTX and Visa payment platform partnership could make crypto payments easy, affordable, and mainstream in 40 countries, as mentioned earlier.
Cryptocurrencies have majorly been a success; however, the challenge to effectively use them as payment options for regular purchases has been persistent. The transaction fees, lack of one integrated payment platform, and merchant acceptance have been among the challenges.
The involvement od Visa will positively impact crypto payments and encourage the use of cryptocurrencies within the proposed 40 countries.
The role of Visa payment platform in Crypto
As opposed to popular cryptocurrency payment rails like Lightning Network, Sam Bankman’s FTX company decided to partner with a seasonal fiat currency processor. According to Sam Bankman, the crypto networks are incapable of handling payments as smoothly as Visa handles payments within its network. Therefore, the move to partner with Visa is a move towards increasing crypto adoption and making it accessible to regular users through debit card payments.
Blockchain technology has evolved from the initial layer 1 to layer 2’s support of smart contracts. Additionally, several crypto projects have been pushing Crypto as a transactional currency with limited success. The announced partnership between Sam Bankman’s FTX and Visa may be the answer to making crypto payments mainstream.
