Visa Does Not Recognize Bitcoin
Bitcoin has been through some difficult times lately, as the cryptocurrency lost a lot of its value, on one hand. On the other hand, several countries around the world are looking into how to regulate the digital currency market. And some, such as China, have already imposed some bans on this market.
Now, bitcoin is suffering a new seatback, as Visa, the largest credit card company in the world, refuses to recognize the cryptocurrency. In fact, Visa is definitely not a supporter of the digital currency. Now, the CEO of Visa decided to talk about the cryptocurrency market in a new interview with CNBC News. Alfred Kelly, the CEO of Visa, confirmed once again that the company will not process bitcoin transactions.
Until this interview, Visa has not been very vocal in expressing its beliefs about the cryptocurrency market. However, it seems that the company's CEO has decided to now make it clear where it stands.
Visa says bitcoin is not a payment system
So, the CEO of Visa also explained the reason why it will not process bitcoin payments. He claimed that the cryptocurrency is not a payment system and it is actually a speculative commodity. He also confirmed that Visa will only process transactions that are based on fiat currencies. Kelly said:
“We at Visa won’t process transactions that are cryptocurrency-based. We will only process fiat currency-based transactions. My take is that bitcoin is much more today a commodity that somebody could invest in; and honestly, somewhat of a speculative commodity.”
When it comes to accepting bitcoin payments, there are definitely some companies that have made this step, but their number is still very limited. Some cryptocurrency market analysts have claimed that bitcoin works better as an investment form or a way to store value, than a mean of making payments. The growth that bitcoin's price has experienced has definitely drawn a lot of investors.
