In a groundbreaking move, Transak, a leading player in payment infrastructure, announced its strategic partnership with financial services giant Visa on Tuesday. The collaboration’s primary objective is to enable users across 145 nations to effortlessly convert their crypto assets into local fiat currencies, leveraging Visa’s powerful Direct platform.
Visa Direct, a platform allowing real-time push payments to over one billion Visa card accounts within 30 minutes, represents a significant leap forward compared to traditional banking methods, where fund transfers can often take days, particularly for cross-border transactions.
This extensive network is now accessible to users of various digital wallets utilizing Transak’s infrastructure for crypto trading, including popular wallets such as MetaMask, TrustWallet, and Ledger.
Sami Start, Co-founder & CEO of Transak, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, stating, “Now, millions across the globe have a straightforward way to cash out their digital asset holdings to their local currency in real-time and intuitively.” He emphasized the elimination of compliance uncertainties and fraud risks, with Transak and Visa supporting over 40 cryptocurrencies.
Following conversion, users can seamlessly spend their fiat at more than 130 million global merchants accepting Visa, marking a significant stride towards mainstream crypto adoption in daily transactions.
This collaboration also addresses a persistent challenge in the crypto space – the swift conversion of digital assets into local fiat currency. While stablecoins offer a solution for some, regulatory ambiguities persist, as seen with the recent delisting of Tether (USDT) by major crypto exchanges in Canada.
Visa’s continued involvement in the crypto sphere reflects a broader trend in the industry. Both Visa and its competitor Mastercard have been actively bridging the gap between fiat and digital assets, exploring various avenues, including stablecoins and central bank digital currencies, as highlighted in their annual reports. This partnership with Transak is another significant step in Visa’s journey into the crypto realm.