Key Highlights
- Visa is moving to change the merchant classification used for certain memecoin purchases made through crypto payment services.
- Transactions through Robinhood Wallet and Fomo were reportedly processed under a digital-media merchant category.
- The transactions were processed through Crossmint using Visa and Mastercard cards linked to Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Visa is moving to change how certain memecoin purchases are classified within its payment network after some transactions were reportedly processed under a merchant category typically associated with digital media.
According to a September 19 report by Crypto In America, the change follows an investigation by The Block that found some memecoin purchases made through Robinhood Wallet and Fomo could be processed under a digital-media merchant category rather than one associated with cryptocurrency.
The transactions were processed through Crossmint, a crypto payments infrastructure provider. The classification has since drawn scrutiny from card issuers and regulators.
Memecoin transactions received digital-media classification
The issue involved the merchant category code assigned to certain purchases.
According to The Block, users could purchase memecoins through Robinhood Wallet and Fomo using Visa and Mastercard cards through Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Test transactions were reportedly categorized under a code generally associated with digital goods and media rather than cryptocurrency.
That classification affected how the purchases were treated for card-reward purposes. Some users could receive standard rewards that generally do not apply to cryptocurrency transactions.
The distinction concerns payment processing and does not determine whether a particular memecoin is legally classified as a security or another type of asset.
Chase challenges one transaction
The classification was later questioned by JPMorgan Chase.
The bank told The Block that at least one Visa transaction had been assigned an incorrect merchant category code and therefore should not have qualified for the associated credit card rewards.
Chase subsequently opened a case with Visa over the transaction.
The New York Attorney General’s Office also told The Block that it was aware of the issue and was reviewing the matter.
Visa moves to change the classification
Visa is now reportedly taking steps to prevent the digital-goods-and-media category from being used for memecoin purchases.
A source cited by The Block said Visa had told at least one industry participant that the category was not appropriate for memecoin transactions.
The company has also reportedly informed payment processors, including Checkout.com, that the classification will no longer be accepted for these purchases.
Processors have been given a period to transition away from the practice, with the reported deadline expected to arrive the following week.
Crossmint later told The Block that its position and procedures for processing digital goods had not changed. Visa declined to comment on the earlier inquiry about restricting the digital-media category.
Crossmint cited earlier SEC guidance
Crossmint previously defended the classification by pointing to a 2025 SEC staff statement concerning certain memecoins.
That statement addressed the securities-law treatment of certain memecoins, while the Visa dispute concerns merchant-category codes used to process card transactions.
The two issues are separate: an asset’s treatment under securities law does not determine which merchant category code a payment network should use.
Visa’s stablecoin activity provides separate context
The reported change comes as Visa continues developing payment infrastructure for stablecoins and other digital assets.
Earlier in September, Rain integrated BDACS’s KRW1 Korean won stablecoin with Visa’s payment infrastructure to support won-denominated card programs across more than 175 million Visa merchant locations.
Visa has also reported growing stablecoin settlement activity, with more than $20 billion in settlement volume cited in recent coverage.
Those initiatives involve stablecoin payments and settlement, while the memecoin issue concerns the classification of individual card purchases.
What changes for card users
The reported change does not indicate a blanket ban on buying memecoins with credit cards.
Where card purchases remain supported, transactions would instead be expected to use cryptocurrency-related classifications rather than the digital-media category.
That could affect whether users receive standard card rewards, depending on the policies of individual card issuers.
The episode also highlights the role of merchant-category codes in crypto payments. The codes can affect rewards, fees, compliance requirements, and how transactions are handled by card issuers and payment networks.
For now, Visa’s reported action is focused on how memecoin purchases are categorized, rather than preventing consumers from purchasing the assets through card-supported services.
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