From persuading regulators to developing products: the big card brands are preparing for a world where cryptoassets are regular currency.
At Mastercard, they’re testing the conversion of crypto to fiat money while also working on a pilot to exchange cryptos for stablecoin, Agustín Beccar, Mastercard’s general manager for the Southern Cone, said at the Argentina Fintech Forum 2021 on Tuesday.
For its part, Visa is focused on “developing products around these assets and, at the same time, forming alliances,” said Arnoldo Reyes, the company’s vice president of digital alliances, fintech and ventures for Latin America and the Caribbean.
To date, Visa has more than 50 partnerships with major cryptocurrency platforms and has seen more than US$1 billion transacted. It has also launched an API that allows clients to buy, sell and store digital currencies. The firm is also talking to regulators and central banks about leveraging CBDCs and their potential use in financial inclusion or interbank payments.
“Digital currencies are going to change the dynamics and how we think about the payments ecosystem,” said Reyes.
Finally, American Express CEO Ignacio Rodríguez said the firm believes the digital currency environment “is a world that is opening up and will be positive.”
Draft law for bitcoin use in Chile
Chile is the latest country in the region to study regulatory proposals for crypto assets. Congressman Karim Bianchi presented a bill that seeks to allow the use of bitcoins in any transaction. According to the bill, which is in the Chamber of Deputies’ economy committee, the exchange rate against the Chilean peso would be set by the market.
Want to know more about the use of crypto in financial services? At iupana, we are working on some very special projects on the topic. Hear the views of Crypto.com, Visa and i2c at a live event next Thursday Dec. 2 and stay tuned for another surprise in December.