Visa, Mastercard halt crypto partnerships until market condition improves

• Visa and Mastercard push back on their cryptocurrency partnerships as several cryptocurrency firms collapse
• Visa had previously partnered with FTX to create a payment gateway

Visa and Mastercard – leading payment processing firms – have decided to pull back on their crypto push amid the collapse of several notable crypto firms. According to a report by Reuters, the payment platforms will pause the launch of crypto-related products and services until the market condition improves. The firms are also reportedly looking for an improvement in the crypto regulatory environment, as per people familiar with the matter.

Crypto failures acting as impediments to adoption?

Notably, Visa has over 70 partnerships with crypto-focused firms. And, the payment firm had also partnered with the now-bankrupt crypto exchange – FTX in October 2022. The firms were planning on offering debit cards to nearly 40 countries, with Latin America, Asia, and Europe being the focus. Meanwhile, FTX users in the United States could directly link their cards to their cryptocurrency accounts. This partnership, however, came to an end a month later after FTX filed for bankruptcy.

Moreover, a Visa spokesperson stated that the failure of notable cryptocurrency firms was an “important reminder that we have a long way to go before crypto becomes a part of the mainstream payments and financial services.” The spokesperson, however, stated that these failures do not impact the firm’s strategy around digital currencies.

Meanwhile, a Mastercard is not new to the virtual currency space. The firm, too, has forged several partnerships in the digital currency market. Last year, Mastercard partnered with Nexo to launch the world’s first crypto-backed payment card. The card was initially released to only a select few European countries. And, it allowed users to spend without having to sell their cryptocurrencies.

The payment giant had also joined hands with Coinbase, a leading U.S.-based crypto exchange. The partnership deal focused on processing NFT payments, allowing Coinbase users to deploy their credit/ debit cards to purchase NFTs.

“Our efforts continue to focus on the underlying blockchain technology and how that can be applied to help address current pain points and build more efficient systems.”