Visa (NYSE:V) is reportedly betting that crypto investors still want to spend their digital currencies, even as prices plummet this year.
The credit card giant is teaming up with global exchange FTX to offer debit cards in 40 countries with a focus on Latin America, Asia and Europe. The cards, which are already available in the U.S., will link directly to a user’s FTX cryptocurrency investing account.
The move allows customers to spend digital currencies without moving those off an exchange, “like you would with any bank account,” according to Visa’s CFO Vasant Phrabhu.
“We don’t have a position as a company on what the value of cryptocurrency should be, or whether it’s a good thing in the long run -- as long as people have things they want to buy, we want to facilitate it.”
The deal comes as the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been cut in half from their all-time highs in November. Bitcoin was trading near $20,000 as of Friday morning, down 57% since January.
FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried acknowledged some irony in these partnerships. Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin were first designed to get around banks and intermediaries.
But banks and payment companies are suddenly embracing the technology as cryptocurrencies go mainstream, and help drive payment volume.
V shares faded $1.57 to begin Friday at $184.01.
