Visa and Mastercard, the United States’ two largest payment processors, have delayed the launch of new crypto partnerships as bankruptcies and increased regulatory scrutiny continue to affect the industry.
The move, first reported by Reuters, comes after a period of improved cooperation between traditional payment firms and crypto companies.
Both Visa and Mastercard have been exploring using stablecoins like USD Coin for payments and transaction settlements in recent months.
Now the companies plan to hold off on launching certain crypto-based products and services until market conditions improve and regulation becomes more clear.
The collapse and bankruptcies of major digital asset firms like FTX, Three Arrows Capital, Celsius, and more are said to be the cause behind the decision.
A Visa spokesperson said: “Recent high-profile failures in the crypto sector are an important reminder that we have a long way to go before crypto becomes a part of mainstream payments and financial services.”
Cuy Sheffield, head of product at Visa, tweeted that the report from Reuters was “inaccurate” and that Visa was continuing “to partner with crypto companies to improve fiat on and off ramps as well as progress on our product roadmap to build new products that can facilitate stablecoin payments in a secure, compliant, and convenient way.”
Sheffield continued: “Despite the challenges and uncertainty in the crypto ecosystem, our view has not changed that fiat backed digital currencies running on public blockchains have the potential to play an important role in the payments ecosystem.”
Both Visa and Mastercard made a splash on the crypto scene when they partnered with crypto exchange Binance to launch fiat-linked crypto payment cards in 2020.
Since then, each company has worked on numerous partnerships within the crypto sector to spur adoption and contribute to web3 development.
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