Visa, Mastercard halt crypto partnerships until market conditions improve

• Visa and Mastercard pull back on their cryptocurrency partnerships as more 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 from 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, according to people familiar with the matter.

Crypto Flaws Acting as Barriers to Adoption?

In particular, 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 planned to offer debit cards to nearly 40 countries, with Latin America, Asia and Europe in focus. Meanwhile, FTX users in the US can link their cards directly to their cryptocurrency accounts. However, this partnership ended 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 part of mainstream payments and financial services.” However, the spokesperson stated that these errors do not affect the firm’s strategy around digital currencies.

Meanwhile, a Mastercard is not new to the virtual currency space. The firm has also entered into several partnerships in the digital currency market. Last year, Mastercard partnered with Nexo to launch the world’s first crypto-supported payment card. The card was originally issued to only a few selected European countries. And it allowed users to spend without having to sell their cryptocurrencies.

The payments giant had also partnered with Coinbase, a leading US-based crypto exchange. The partnership agreement focused on processing NFT payments, allowing Coinbase users to distribute their credit/debit cards to purchase NFTs.

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