Payments giant Visa teams up with global cryptocurrency exchange FTX to offer debit cards in 40 countries, with a focus on Latin America, Asia, and Europe.
According to a CNBC report, these cards which are already accessible in the United States will instantly connect to a user’s FTX cryptocurrency investment account.
Visa CFO Vasant Prabhu stated, “Even though values have come down there’s still steady interest in crypto. We don’t have a position as a company on what the value of cryptocurrency should be, or whether it’s a good thing in the long run — as long as people have things they want to buy, we want to facilitate it.”
According to Visa’s CFO, this feature enables clients to spend digital currencies without transferring them away from an exchange.
Also Read: FTX Prepares to Launch Visa Debit Card for Crypto Balances
Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX, acknowledged some irony in these alliances as cryptocurrencies were initially created to avoid banks and middlemen. However, as cryptocurrencies gain popularity, banks and payment providers are suddenly embracing the technology.
SBF noted “There’s a decision you have to make as a traditional payments company: do you want to lean into this or do you want to fight against it? I respect the fact that many of them are leaning into it.”
The biggest chance, according to both CEOs, is in emerging markets, where access to digital assets is more tempting than it could be in the US due to inflation and currency volatility.
Turkey and Argentina, where inflation has surpassed 83% and 78%, respectively, were singled out by Bankman-Fried. Last month, Visa’s rival Mastercard partnered with Binance to launch a prepaid card – the ‘Binance card’ in Argentina to make purchases easier for its clients.
Following the announcement, the native token of the FTX, FTT, rose about 7% trading at a price of $25.36 at the time of writing.
