The primary role of virtual currencies and digital assets, for almost their entire history, has been largely limited to trading and speculation, despite designs to the contrary.
However, recent advances in blockchain infrastructure are positioning digital assets as more capable tools for real-world financial transactions. And the current maturation of the blockchain industry highlights a rising trend among crypto entities seeking to increase their utility across the financial services ecosystem. If successful, this transformation could redefine cross-border payments and simplify cash management for consumers on both sides. And business.
Still, this is the change many have been waiting for since the first Bitcoin was born on the blockchain.
That's why every week, PYMNTS rounds up the most pressing crypto and Web3 announcements for our readers and tracks key data points along the path of the crypto sector. This week's news showed that major financial and technology companies are increasingly trusting stablecoins and cryptocurrencies as reliable tools for mainstream payments.
Stablecoins and cryptocurrency payments
Visa launched a remittance partnership with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase on Tuesday (October 29). The partnership connects Coinbase to the Visa Direct network, allowing the exchange's customers to deposit funds into their accounts via eligible Visa debit cards. Users can use this service to transfer funds to their Coinbase account, purchase cryptocurrencies on Coinbase, and cash out funds from Coinbase to their bank account.
Elsewhere, also on Tuesday, funds transfer platform Toons launched a partnership with stablecoin issuer Circle. The partnership aims to “accelerate innovation in stablecoin liquidity management” and will see members of Toons Direct Global Network use USDC to fund and execute cross-border transactions. The companies said they will make it possible.
As mentioned here earlier this month, this partnership comes at a time when the stablecoin market has surpassed $170 billion in value. And with fintech giant Stripe's $1.1 billion acquisition of stablecoin platform Bridge, “it's becoming harder for the payments sector to ignore,” PYMNTS writes.
And it's all happening at a time when various players in the cryptocurrency world are seeking greater utility across the financial services ecosystem.
Crypto payment innovation is still happening on-chain. Cryptocurrency payment solutions provider Alchemy Pay on Monday announced plans to launch a layer 1 blockchain. With this release, Alchemy Chain offers a “highly scalable infrastructure” designed to accommodate large-scale business applications, with an architecture built to process transactions “quickly and efficiently.” It says that there is.
This announcement follows last month's news that Alchemy Pay's virtual cards now support Google Pay.
These partnerships highlight a larger trend among crypto entities seeking to increase their utility across the financial services ecosystem.
News from the regulatory front lines
Despite these promising developments, regulatory hurdles continue to cast a shadow over the crypto payments sector. Last week, a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report published on Friday (October 25) revealed that federal agencies have accused stablecoin issuer Tether of violating sanctions and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. reported that it is investigating.
The company condemned the report. Tether (USDT) is the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, but it is primarily used as a trading pair on exchanges for liquidity and stability, and its regulatory status has led to companies not using Tether fully across their operations. PYMNTS reported on October 21 that there may be hesitation to adopt the system.
And in another specter of the wild west of crypto, former FTX executive Nishad Singh learned his fate on Wednesday (October 30) afternoon: prison sentence, three years of supervision. Released. Singh, the former chief engineer of a failed cryptocurrency exchange, was praised for his cooperation with authorities investigating Sam Bankman Freed's theft of nearly $8 billion in customer funds.
Caroline Ellison, a former executive who helped collapse the FTX cryptocurrency exchange and later became a star witness in the prosecution of FTX founder Sam Bankman Freed, received a harsher sentence than the state recommended2 He was sentenced in 2018. Federal Probation Service.
But some exchanges are trying to clean up their image. Binance, FTX’s biggest competitor, on Tuesday announced Binance Wealth, the crypto exchange’s asset management solution. This allows wealth managers to oversee client onboarding, make investment recommendations, and provide support during and after onboarding, similar to traditional wealth management.
What experts tell PYMNTS
Although the cryptocurrency and stablecoin ecosystem is growing, it is still far from reaching its full potential as the foundation of a global payment system. But as consumer demand for faster, borderless payments grows, the integration of stablecoins and blockchain technology into mainstream financial services could change the way money moves around the world. there is.
Xiang Shu, Global COE Leader for Digital Strategy and Blockchain at Mondelez International, and Bobby Tinsley, Co-Founder and CEO of SKUx, will discuss Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and Blockchain. told PYMNTS' Karen Webster that advances in retail and payments are leading to breakthrough advances in retail and payments. Based offer ecosystem.
“Blockchain has traditionally been very focused on cryptocurrencies, rather than actually leveraging the ledger for its own purpose: transaction tracking and traceability,” Tinsley said. “This is a game-changer for the retail industry as it allows us to provide unparalleled transparency into the data we provide on behalf of our partners.”
And last week, PYMNTS spoke with Ran Goldi, SVP of Payments and Networks at Fireblocks, and Nikola Plecas, Head of Commercialization at Visa Crypto, to examine the benefits and myths surrounding blockchain-based payments.
“Blockchain is not going to solve world hunger. It’s not a magic solution to all problems,” Goldy said, but it can be an upgrade to the financial system. He also emphasized that the real power of blockchain comes from faster and more transparent transfers of value, and that stablecoins are already enjoying greater traction in this space.
Goldi also said that while traditional payment systems like Swift can take several days to process a transaction, stablecoins enable near-instantaneous cross-border payments in “less than 10 minutes.” .
If the industry can overcome regulatory and technical hurdles, stablecoins could well serve as a bridge between today’s financial system and tomorrow’s decentralized aspirations.
