VISA Financial News

The Ethereum price has dropped to $1,886 today, making for a 1.5% fall in the past 24 hours as the cryptocurrency market as a whole also dips slightly.

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Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.__________

Global payment giant Visa continues to explore the benefits of the cryptocurrency industry with a new initiative focused on stablecoin payments.

Mastercard, a legacy company rooted in traditional finance, has been actively involved in Web3 initiatives in recent years. On April 12, the company announced its latest venture, a new artist accelerator program. However, this time, it added a Web3 twist. The program is nonfungible token (NFT)-gated and therefore only accessible to holders of its Mastercard Music Pass NFT.

Disclaimer: The text below is a press release that is not part of  Cryptonews.com  editorial content.

Disclaimer: The text below is a press release that is not part of  Cryptonews.com  editorial content.

Americans traveling abroad may need to wait more than four months for a new passport — and delays are likely to worsen as the busy summer travel season approaches.

Belarus is continuing its bid to woo crypto firms – by extending tax exemptions for token miners and developers until 2025.

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Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.__________

According to the global payment provider Visa, 2022 became a record-breaking year for cryptocurrency thefts, with over $3 billion stolen in on-chain thefts. Cryptocurrency bridge services were a favored target for threat actors. 

Circle, a leading global crypto finance company, has announced that it has partnered with Cross River Bank for producing and redeeming USD Coin (USDC), its flagship stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. Cross River Bank is a recognized leader in providing banking services to fintech and crypto firms, including Visa and Coinbase. In addition to Cross River Bank, Circle has also expanded relationships with other banking partners to assist with USDC redemption, including Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon), which already provides custody services for Circle's reserves.

Hong Kong has received interest from more than 80 mainland and foreign crypto companies to set up shop in the country as it works to establish itself as a premier Web3 hub.

Despite a turbulent week for crypto following the downfall of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank, Bitcoin (BTC) market cap has managed to flip that of tech giant Meta.

USDC, a stablecoin linked to the dollar, lost its peg to the U.S. currency amid a surge of investor withdrawals after its founder, Circle Internet Financial Ltd., said it had $3.3 billion invested in the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank.

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Bybit, the Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange, has announced the launch of its new debit card that will allow users to make payments and withdraw cash using their cryptocurrency holdings. The Bybit card will operate on the Mastercard network and will initially allow fiat-based transactions by debiting cryptocurrency balances when used to pay for goods and services. The new service begins with the launch of a free virtual card for online purchases, while physical debit cards are set to be available in April 2023. The card will work with Bitcoin, Ether, Tether, USD Coin, and XRP balances on user accounts. Payments made with the Bybit card will automatically convert the balances of these initial cryptocurrencies into euros or pounds, depending on the user's country of residence.

Crypto cycles aren’t for the faint-hearted. As the industry continues to evolve from the cypherpunks into the mainstream, we can expect a lot of growing pains. The dumpster fire that was 2022 may have scared off many companies interested in exploring the sector. Case in point: Visa and Mastercard’s embrace of crypto may have hit a snag thanks to the bear market and unclear regulations.

Bitcoin's recent price movement has caught the attention of crypto investors and enthusiasts as a massive transfer of $230 million worth of BTC was made to an unknown wallet by a whale investor. This event has fueled speculation about what the transfer could mean for Bitcoin's price in the near future. 

Visa has reiterated its commitment to crypto strategy, refuting recent reports that the payment giant plans to pause crypto push due to uncertain market conditions.