By Christiana Sciaudone
Investing.com -- Bitcoin jumped 4% after Visa (NYSE:V) said it will accept USD Coin (USDC) cryptocurrency to settle transactions on its payment network over Ethereum.
The pilot program allows Crypto.com to send USDC to Visa to settle a portion of its obligations for the Crypto.com Visa card program, in partnership with Anchorage, a federally chartered digital asset bank. A first transaction was completed this month with Crypto.com sending USDC to Visa’s Ethereum address at Anchorage.
Visa said it is aiming to make cryptocurrencies more secure, useful, and applicable for payments as the new currency booms. Bitcoin has soared over the past six months from around $10,750 to more than $58,000 on Monday. It peaked at over $61,000 earlier this month.
Visa has spent the last year establishing a pathway for digital currency settlement within its existing treasury infrastructure, a platform that moves billions of dollars each day across thousands of institutions in more than 200 markets and 160 currencies.
“The announcement today marks a major milestone in our ability to address the needs of fin techs managing their business in a stablecoin or cryptocurrency," said Jack Forestell, executive vice president and chief product officer at Visa.
“We’ve seen record-breaking growth in our business and the broader crypto ecosystem over the last year. To continue accelerating the world’s transition to cryptocurrency, we need partners who understand the opportunity and the tools that will help us get to market faster and more efficiently," said Kris Marszalek, co-founder and CEO of Crypto.com.