Visa CFO notes waning enthusiasm around cryptocurrencies

In the spring of 2021, a substantial portion of the payment system’s transaction volume came from Visa’s cryptocurrency-card operations, but the frenzy around digital assets began to ease. The company’s chief financial officer, Vasant Prabhu, told Bloomberg.

According to the report for the third fiscal quarter, ended 30 June 2021, the volume of payments in the system rose 34%, to $2.7 trillion. The volume of cross-border online transfers rose 56% — much of this growth was driven by digital-asset-related activity.

«There was a large growth in purchases involving cryptocurrencies, particularly in April and May. But by June the frenzy began to ease», — said Prabhu.

In April the combined market capitalization of digital assets surpassed $2 trillion, and Bitcoin’s market capitalization reached $1.095 trillion. At the same time Ethereum hit a price high of $2,146.

In May, market capitalization fell below $1.5 trillion, according to CoinGecko. As of writing, the figure stood at $1.6 trillion.

Prabhu warned that without support from the developing cryptocurrency market, cross-border transfers could shrink. Transactions between countries are among the company’s most profitable, given their high fees.

In April, the CEO of the payments firm Alfred Kelly noted that the company has “extremely strong capabilities” in the digital-asset space. He also stated that Visa could make digital currencies “safer, more useful and suitable for payments”.

In July, Visa said that in the first half of 2021 holders of its cryptocurrency cards spent more than $1 billion. It also disclosed that under its card programs it works with 50 leading digital-asset platforms, including FTX and Coinbase.

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