#Visa

On October 21, 2024, the Avalanche L1 blockchain team announced the launch of their crypto card in collaboration with Visa. This card allows users to pay for virtually any goods and services using cryptocurrencies like WAVAX (Wrapped AVAX), USDC (USD Coin), sAVAX (Staked AVAX), and several others.

Tangem, a company specializing in card-based crypto wallets, is collaborating with Visa to create a new hardware wallet incorporating Tangem Pay technology. This will enable users to make payments at standard terminals.

SafePal, a decentralized crypto wallet, has launched a Visa virtual bank card, teaming up with Swiss bank Fiat24. This initiative promises decentralized and confidential asset storage, though the bank will maintain custody of user credentials.

This initiative offers a residency visa and a pathway to citizenship to 1,000 individuals who invest $1 million in Bitcoin or Tether in the country.

The Central African Republic (CAR) is expanding its Sango blockchain initiative to include the tokenization of land and natural resources. Recently, the CAR National Assembly passed a law, receiving unanimous approval, that facilitates online business visa applications and simplifies the process for both locals and foreigners to establish businesses in sectors like real estate, agriculture, and forestry. This move follows CAR's earlier efforts in the crypto space, including the launch of Project Sango in May 2022 and its brief adoption of Bitcoin as a national currency.

Visa, the leading company in the banking payments sector, is working on a solution to tokenize traditional assets on the blockchain. The Visa Tokenized Asset Platform (VTAP), a platform for creating tokens on Ethereum, was announced in a report published on October 3, 2024.

A new product named Ether․fi Cash is designed as an alternative to the often complex and costly off-ramp process of converting cryptocurrency to fiat money. The developers hope that this innovation will allow cryptocurrency holders to operate entirely within the blockchain ecosystem.

The company’s successful testing of this technology lets users now handle gas fees using their credit or debit cards. This trial took place on the Ethereum Goerli testnet.

Tether CTO: "The launch of PayPal stablecoin doesn’t impact Tether as the firm does not serve U.S. users. If PYUSD launches in international markets, it could have a positive impact on the crypto industry and potentially erode revenues for payment giants like MasterCard and Visa." Co-founder of zkLend: "PayPal will indeed bolster the perception and acceptance of cryptocurrencies, but it can lead to a diminished market share for decentralized stablecoins, threatening the very principles of decentralization that underpin the crypto space." Analysts at JPMorgan: "This could boost Ethereum activity and enhance Ethereum’s network utility as a stablecoin/DeFi platform. PYUSD could fill the void left by the $20 billion shrinkage of Binance's BUSD stablecoin, which was forced to shut down by U.S. regulators earlier this year." Co-founder of Sei Network: "The gas fees of using PYUSD will be ridiculous, which will disincentivize its usage. To help make the user experience better, PayPal will either need to subsidize transaction costs or will need to help support PYUSD on other networks with cheaper gas fees." It's worth noting that PayPal currently serves 435 million customers globally.