The payments company Visa announced the testing of a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that will allow customers of traditional banks to buy and sell digital assets, such as Bitcoin.
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The first participant in the Visa Crypto API pilot program was digital bank First Boulevard, aimed at the African American community in the United States.
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“Developing crypto APIs marks the next milestone in Visa’s digital currency strategy, aimed at expanding the company’s role as a network of networks,” the press release said.
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According to Product Director Jack Forestella, the company decided to make the payments system “a bridge between digital currencies and its global network of 70 million merchants.”
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The pilot is expected to launch later this year.
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“During the initial testing and training phase, Visa will study how financial institutions that do not have their own digital currency infrastructure can use the company’s platform to access the growing world of crypto assets and blockchain networks,” the payments giant said.
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Visa plans to connect First Boulevard to Anchorage’s digital asset custodian infrastructure — the company’s partner which recently received a national bank license from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) as part of the U.S. Treasury.
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First Boulevard will also issue a Visa debit card with access to digital assets. The online bank plans to incorporate financial literacy education into its platform — with the payments company participating in developing educational resources.
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Earlier, Visa CEO Al Kelly stated that the company plans to expand its involvement in cryptocurrency payments through partnerships with wallet operators and exchanges.
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