Visa
Ether breaks $500 billion market cap for first time
Bitcoin broke a $500 billion market capitalization in late December 2020.
Ether (ETH), the second most-valued cryptocurrency after Bitcoin (BTC), has hit a major milestone amid the ongoing price rally.
On May 12, Ether price set another historic record, surging to as high as $4,346, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Ether's market capitalization briefly surpassed $500 billion, reaching nearly $505 billion on Wednesday.
The new milestone marks Ether’s ongoing massive surge after ETH surpassed a $4,000 price mark for the first time in history on May 10. At the time of writing, ETH is trading at $4,317, up more than 6.4% over the past 24 hours and seeing massive gains of about 30% over the past seven days.
Following the parabolic surge, Ether is now larger than payment giant Visa or major investment bank JPMorgan in terms of market capitalization. At publishing time, Visa’s market valuation amounts to $481 billion, while JPMorgan’s market cap stands at $488 billion, according to data from financial information website MarketWatch.
Ether is the second cryptocurrency to hit a $500 billion market cap after Bitcoin. Ether took significantly less time to become a half a trillion-dollar asset. Launched in January 2009, Bitcoin took nearly 12 years to reach a $500 billion market capitalization in December 2020 at a price above $27,000. As the first version of an Ethereum cryptocurrency protocol was launched in July 2015, Ether is now five years and 10 months old.
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin became a billionaire after the Ether price rose above $3,000 on May 3. Megan Kaspar, a crypto analyst and co-founder of digital asset investment firm Magnetic, believes that Ether is now on track to hit a price target between $8,000 and $10,000 by late 2021. The analyst previously reportedly predicted that ETH would hit $3,400 when the cryptocurrency was trading about $1,200.
Visa and Tala Join Forces to Boost Cryptocurrency Adoption for Underbanked Populations
Payments giant Visa and financial services provider Tala have partnered to boost cryptocurrency adoption in emerging markets. The collaboration aims to “make it easier for underbanked consumers to convert, store, and use cryptocurrencies.” Visa and Tala Boosting Crypto Adoption in Emerging Markets Visa and Tala have formed a new partnership “to help underbanked populations participate […]Visa Diving Into Cryptocurrency ‘in a Very, Very Big Way’ — CEO Outlines 5 Crypto Priorities
Visa CEO Al Kelly says that the payments giant is leaning into the cryptocurrency space “in a very, very big way.” He outlines five key areas of crypto opportunities that Visa is focusing on, stating that his company is “extremely well-positioned.” Visa Is Focusing on 5 Crypto Areas During Visa’s earnings call for the period […]Got crypto? Here are 3 debit cards that let you spend your stack
Crypto debit cards are growing in popularity as holders look for effortless ways to spend their assets.
As blockchain technology and the public's awareness of cryptocurrency continues to grow, a range of new use cases a coming to market and enhancing the efficacy of legacy financial systems.
Despite its many applications, the original use case for Bitcoin (BTC) as a medium of exchange remains one of the most fundamental applications of blockchain technology and while BTC might not be the best asset to use for payments, there are service providers who have eased the process of settling transactions in other cryptocurrencies.
For now, the most widely accepted way to use cryptocurrencies for direct payments in everyday life is through the use of crypto debit cards which allow users to convert their crypto holdings into U.S. dollars. They essentially work in the same way that a prepaid debit does.
With institutions showing an increased interest in the growing cryptocurrency sector and mainstream awareness of blockchain technology at its highest level ever, crypto debits cards are increasing in prevalence as new players enter the field to try and capture a share in this growing market.
Three of the debit cards with a track record of success and attractive rewards are BitPay, Crypto.com and the Nexo Card.
Bitpay
The BitPay prepaid Mastercard has emerged as a top choice for many cryptocurrency holders thanks to its ease of use and low fees. It originally launched in 2016 as a US-only debit card and mainly functioned as a Bitcoin payments processor.
BitPay now supports eight different fiat currency options alongside support for Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH), Gemini Dollar (GUSD), USD Coin (USDC), Paxos (PAX) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
Have you added your BitPay Card to @Apple Pay® yet? Easily make online and in-store purchases with crypto. #apple #applepay #bitpay #bitcoin #bitpaywallet #bitpaycard #crypto pic.twitter.com/hRp7nm6vDu
— BitPay (@BitPay) February 23, 2021
Users who wish to obtain the card must first pay a $9.95 activation fee and provide their social security and driver’s license number to gain access. Once approved, the user can load cryptocurrencies onto their BitPay wallet and then convert them to dollars to make them available on the card.
There are no transaction fees for users in the U.S., and the card has a daily spending limit of $10,000 with a maximum account balance of $25,000.
Crypto.com
For the ardent cryptocurrency fan, the Crypto.com debit card is one of the top choices due to the fact that it has a built-in native token called Crypto.com Coin (CRO) which functions as the primary currency and reward token for the blockchain.
Benefits of using the card include 100% cashback on popular streaming services like Netflix and Spotify as well as up to 8% cashback on regular purchases.
Crypto.com users can choose from a list of more than 100 of the top cryptocurrencies to fund their card by depositing them into their account and converting them into a stablecoin which is then loaded onto their debit card.
We’re excited to share news of a historic moment:https://t.co/vCNztABJoG & @Visa successfully conducted the first settlement of transactions using USDC!
— Crypto.com (@cryptocom) March 29, 2021
A huge milestone for the industry as crypto and fiat networks begin to converge.https://t.co/v70qC8n4Yy
The Crypto.com ecosystem offers five different Visa debit cards that have a tiered reward structure that increases depending on the amount of CRO that a user has staked in their account.
Tiers range from requiring a stake of 5,000 CRO for the Ruby Steel card, all the way up to needing 5 million staked CRO to obtain the Obsidian card which offers 8% cashback on all purchases. There is also a basic version of the card that doesn’t require any staking and offers 1% cashback on all purchases.
Nexo Card
A third choice that offers a different structure than most crypto debit cards is the Nexo Card and its native NEXO cryptocurrency which currently trades at $3.63.
Instead of requiring users to convert the cryptocurrency held into their accounts into U.S. dollars before use, Nexo issues an instantaneous loan based on the value of the cryptocurrency held in a users account and settles the transaction in fiat currency.
Want to #hodl your #crypto & spend at the same time?
— Nexo (@NexoFinance) April 22, 2021
Оur Instant Crypto Credit Line™ is just the thing for you.
Need more reasons? Check our blog post:https://t.co/uB0SkM4Qke
This allows users to access the value of their cryptocurrency assets without having to sell them. The loan can be repaid using either cryptocurrency or fiat through their Nexo account with the possibility of having the minimum payment paid off by the yield earned on a users staked cryptocurrency assets.
Interest rates for charges on the card are set at 5.9%, and there are no monthly or annual exchange fees. In addition to this, users receive 2% cash back in the form of Nexo tokens or BTC.
As more banks and institutions in the U.S. and around the world take a stake in the cryptocurrency sector in order to find ways to capitalize on the growing market, crypto debit cards are likely to become a more prominent fixture in legacy payment channels.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
Visa, JPMorgan and ING discuss Bitcoin, Ether and stablecoin development
Forbes’ “2021 Blockchain 50 Symposium: Crypto Goes Corporate” event sheds light on Bitcoin’s role as an investment tool, along with the future of stablecoins.
If 2021 has taught us anything about digital currencies, it’s that big banks and major payments providers are now feeling more comfortable with Bitcoin (BTC). While the CEO of PayPal and other large corporations are expressing excitement for crypto payments and salaries paid in Bitcoin, executives from Visa, JPMorgan and ING all agree that Bitcoin is still an investment vehicle rather than a currency.
This notion was revealed during a panel discussion entitled “Buying with Bitcoin,” which took place during Forbes’ “2021 Blockchain 50 Symposium: Crypto Goes Corporate” online event. Michael del Castillo, associate editor at Forbes, led the discussion and was joined by Umar Farooq, CEO of JPMorgan’s blockchain unit Onyx; Mariana Gomez de la Villa, program director for distributed ledger technology at ING; and Cuy Sheffield, vice president and head of crypto at Visa.
Have Bitcoin payments advanced since 2014?
When panelists were asked whether or not anything has changed for Bitcoin payments since 2014, all three executives noted that the primary use case for Bitcoin is still as a store of value. Farooq pointed out that accessibility is the only major change Bitcoin payments have undergone since 2014:
“Square and PayPal, for instance, are enabling easier ways to utilize Bitcoin. Although, I think Bitcoin payments remain more as a marketing play for many large companies.”
While Farooq mentioned that consumers can certainly pay for items using Bitcoin, the volatility creates a major challenge. He further pointed out that tax implications create even more complications when it comes to crypto payments.
Sheffield noted that Visa is seeing growing demand from customers wanting to access Bitcoin, yet many still view the digital currency as more of a “savings account.” As such, Sheffield explained that Visa is currently focused on “stacking sats,” or allowing customers to acquire small units of Bitcoin overtime. “Companies like Fold are enabling customers to spend fiat and then earn Bitcoin back.This has been our primary motivation,” he remarked.
Echoing Farooq and Sheffield, Gomez de la Villa noted that Bitcoin remains an investment, primarily due to challenges such as ongoing high transaction fees. “I don’t think Bitcoin as a means of payment will be widely used right now,” she said.
JPM Coin is not a cryptocurrency
Given the sentiment expressed by all three panelists regarding Bitcoin payments, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Farooq mentioned that JPM Coin — JPMorgan’s digital currency offering that was announced in 2019 — is not a cryptocurrency.
Rather, Farooq explained that JPM Coin was created specifically to meet the needs of JPMorgan’s Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 corporate clients. “Our clients want access to programmable money, conditional payments and future capabilities. But they don’t care as much about being on a fully decentralized, public network with autonomy,” he said.
Farooq noted that JPM Coin provides corporations with the future capabilities of payments but acts more like a digitalized M1, or the money supply typically issued by banks. He said:
“It’s our point of view that corporations can come and interact on the platform to perform decentralized transactions across the broader ecosystem, allowing them access to programmable money. JPM Coin is not a pure cryptocurrency because, in my mind, a pure cryptocurrency is something with independent value on a public blockchain, like Bitcoin or Ether.”
In addition to JPM Coin, Farooq discussed the reasons behind the recent $65-million investment round in ConsenSys, which was led by major financial institutions including JPMorgan. According to the software company ConsenSys, the new funding will help expand its enterprise blockchain infrastructure solutions to enable more decentralized finance and Web 3.0 applications on Ethereum. Given this announcement, del Castillo asked Farooq if JPM Coin is a competitor to Ether (ETH).
According to Farooq, JPM Coin is not competing with Ether, noting that JPM Coin specifically caters to JPMorgan’s clients and not to retail investors. Farooq also mentioned that although JPMorgan built the Quorum platform on Ethereum, which has now become ConsenSys Quorum, the idea has been for those two platforms to merge to allow for JPMorgan’s blockchain solution to be built on the network that ConsenSys runs on. “We have a great relationship with ConsenSys and will continue to collaborate on the core technology with them,” Farooq said.
Stablecoins will enable new payment methods
When asked about the future of stablecoins, all three panelists agreed that stablecoins could be a useful tool for cross-border transactions, along with a solution that will enable fintechs and startups to build financial products upon.
Stablecoins have been of particular interest to Visa, as the major credit card provider recently announced a pilot program that will allow its partners to leverage the Ethereum blockchain to settle fiat transactions. According to an announcement from Visa, the company will be partnering with the crypto exchange and card issuer Crypto.com to provide a crypto settlement platform for fiat transactions later this year. This will enable Visa’s partners to exchange the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) over Visa’s payment network to clear fiat transactions.
Sheffield noted that Visa has been following the stablecoin ecosystem closely over the past few years, with a special focus on USD Coin:
“We’ve been impressed and excited to see USD Coin and a developer ecosystem emerge around it. There is also an increasing number of fintech and crypto companies actually building their businesses on top of USDC.”
Sheffield mentioned that USD Coin is becoming a “crypto-native dollar-based treasury infrastructure,” noting that work is being done to ensure Visa acts as the bridge between USD Coin payments and innovative crypto companies.
In regards to cross-border transactions, Sheffield pointed out that stablecoins will enable new digital wallet products, followed by more efficient cross-border business-to-business payments leveraged by non-crypto companies. Echoing Sheffield, Farooq noted that stablecoins will help on the cross-border front but pointed out that regulations must first be in place:
“In the short term, stablecoins will act like money in your Apple Wallet — they will be used within closed ecosystems to create and generate value. But the long term depends on regulators becoming comfortable with cross-border payments at scale.”
Payments firm Nuvei launches support for 40 cryptos including Reddcoin and DOGE
Payment provider Nuvei has launched support for nearly 40 crypto assets including lesser-known coins from previous market cycles, such as Reddcoin, Steem, Bitcoin Gold, and Siacoin.
E-commerce merchants can now transact in nearly 40 cryptocurrencies through global payment platform Nuvei.
According to the announcement, merchants partnered with the payment provider can use an array of cryptocurrencies to send and receive payments across 200 countries, including top assets Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), lesser known cryptos such as Reddcoin and Bitcoin Gold, and even hyper-volatile coins like Dogecoin (DOGE).
Nuvei’s customers can even use Ripple (XRP), despite the asset’s recent legal woes and subsequent delistings from major exchanges.
Commenting on the launch, Nuvei’s CEO and chairman, Philip Fayer, described the firm’s support for crypto assets as “empower[ing] our clients, large and small, with frictionless payment experiences and a greater opportunity to partake in a global marketplace.”
The announcement also asserts crypto asset transactions will provide “enhanced security, privacy, and integrity” to Nuvei’s users when compared to traditional fiat methods of payment. However, multiple crypto assets supported by Nuvei have previously been the subject of 51% attacks.
In the final quarter of 2020, Nuvei processed almost $14 billion from merchants, with the company handling $43 billion over the entirety of 2020.
Nuvei’s announcement comes as competition between traditional payment providers entering the crypto sector is heating.
On March 29, Visa announced a pilot program allowing all its partners to use the Ethereum blockchain to settle transactions made in fiat. The solution utilizes the USDC stablecoin to clear transactions.
Late last year, Paypal announced that it will start offering cryptocurrency services to its users including the ability for them to purchase and trade them.
On March 22, U.S.-based online shopping app Buyaladdin announced it will start accepting BTC and ETH across multiple shopping malls in South Korea.
Bitcoin Targets Record Highs After “Strongest Dip-Buying” of the Year
Despite the overwhelmingly bearish sentiment in the crypto markets since mid-March, Bitcoin opened the new weekly trading session with a bang.
Bitcoin Whales Continue to Accumulate
High-net-worth individuals are accumulating BTC en masse, adding fuel to the bull market.
Bitcoin kicked off Monday, Mar. 29, on a positive note after Visa Inc. announced that it would allow the use of cryptocurrencies to settle transactions on its payment network. Although the multinational financial services corporation will only rely on USD Coin (USDC), the move was perceived by investors as a sign of mainstream adoption.
The pioneer cryptocurrency has staged a 2,500-point turnaround since the weekly trading session started, gaining over 4.60% in market value.
Many were surprised by the bullish impulse as confidence in BTC’s future price action deteriorated following two consecutive red weeks. Bitcoin-related social sentiment experienced a substantial decline, reaching the lowest levels since October 2020.
The quarterly rebalancing of institutional investors seen over the past few weeks has raised concerns that a deeper correction was in the cards.
Willy Woo pointed out that the selling pressure from funds rebalancing was met by equally bullish buying.
The on-chain analyst maintains that addresses with 100 to 1,000 BTC showed a net accumulation as prices tumbled, indicating that Bitcoin is “undergoing the strongest dip-buying of 2021.”
Behavior analytics platform Santiment also recorded a similar increase for the combined number of tokens located in addresses holding between 100 and 10,000 BTC.
Santiment’s SEO manager, Dino Ibisbegovic, said that this whale cohort has a significant impact on the market. When considering these individuals grew by 50,000 BTC since Mar. 22, it was only a matter of time before prices followed suit.
“What’s also noteworthy is that this group of investors has previously offloaded roughly 40,000 BTC between March 13-14, signaling an uptick short-term profit-taking that coincided with a -11.2% correction and demonstrating the potential impact that these addresses may have on the market,” said Ibisbegovic.
With the excess in money printing from central banks worldwide, it seems like Bitcoin is becoming the ideal inflation hedge.
Thus, further capital influx can be expected, especially when considering that the recent U.S. stimulus checks have yet to pour in.
Primed for New All-Time Highs
Based on IntoTheBlock’s In/Out of the Money Around Price (IOMAP), Bitcoin seems to have built a price floor between $52,850 and $56,350. Here, more than 1.40 million addresses purchased roughly 1.22 million BTC.
As long as this support level holds, another increase in buying pressure presents many possibilities for another leg up now that prices are far from being overheated.
The IOMAP cohorts show that Bitcoin only faces one supply barrier ahead. Nearly 300,000 addresses bought 88,000 BTC at $58,900.
Moving past this resistance wall would signal the correction’s end and the beginning of a new uptrend to $70,000 or higher.
Only a daily candlestick close below $52,850 would pause the optimistic outlook. Under such unique circumstances, investors may panic sell their holdings pushing Bitcoin towards the next critical support area at $47,000.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, this author owned Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Payment Giant Visa Integrates USDC Stablecoin Support for Settlement
On Monday, the American multinational financial services corporation Visa announced that digital currency payments have arrived on Visa’s settlement platform. The payment giant revealed that the company will leverage USD coin (USDC), the regulated token built on top of the Ethereum network. A lot Has Changed Since Dee Hock founded Visa Visa has announced cryptocurrency […]Visa plans to allow partners to settle fiat transactions with crypto
Visa’s partners will be able to exchange USDC over the payment network to clear transactions made in fiat currency.
Major credit credit provider Visa is piloting a program that will allow its partners to use the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain to settle a transaction made in fiat.
In a Monday announcement, Visa said it will be partnering with cryptocurrency exchange platform and card issuer Crypto.com to offer a crypto settlement system for fiat transactions later this year. Visa’s partners will reportedly be able to exchange USD Coin (USDC) over the credit card’s payment network to clear transactions made in fiat currency.
According to Visa, its standard settlement process requires partners to send fiat currency via wire transfer, which "can add cost and complexity for businesses built with digital currencies." The pilot would reportedly allow Crypto.com to send USDC to Visa’s Ethereum address to settle some of transactions under the crypto exchange’s Visa card program by linking Visa’s treasury with digital asset platform Anchorage.
“Crypto-native fintechs want partners who understand their business and the complexities of digital currency form factors,” said Visa chief product officer Jack Forestell. “The announcement today marks a major milestone in our ability to address the needs of fintechs managing their business in a stablecoin or cryptocurrency.”
The firm said it aims to make this system available to Fintech companies and neobanks dealing in cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and USDC. Visa reports "billions of dollars" in fiat are involved in clearing and settling transactions daily.
Crypto.com announced a partnership with Visa earlier this month in which the exchange would join the Visa network and expand the reach of its crypto debit card. At the time, the company said it would be rolling out a fiat lending program to allow cardholders to use their crypto holdings as collateral for fiat loans — funds that users could spend in merchant platforms that support Visa payments.