ConsenSys and VISA Partner To Build Payment Infrastructure For CBDCs

Consensys and Visa partner to build a payment infrastructure for CBDCs and a pilot program that will explore retail applications like wallets and cards so let’s read more in today’s cryptocurrency latest news.

Both companies will first meet with 30 central banks to discuss the goals of their governments and the goals to achieve with central bank digital currency. The pilot program is scheduled to start during the spring of this year. Consensys and Visa partner to take the crypto services to a new level and create a digital currency onramp. The payments giant plans to launch a CBDC sandbox in the spring where the central banks can try out the tech after minting it on the Consensys Quorum network. The customers will be able to use their CBDC-linked VISA  or digital wallet anywhere where Visa is accepted globally as per Catherine Gu who is the CBDC head of Visa. Gu said:

“If successful, CBDC could expand access to financial services and make government disbursements more efficient, targeted and secure – that’s an attractive proposition for policy makers.”

The CBDC is a type of central bank obligation which is issued in digital form and can be used by the public comparable to the US dollar. The decision came as regulators around the world struggle to find how to treat these assets in the changing financial landscape dominated by crypto. The notion that crypto and digital money will improve the financial markets or replace fiat currency is a huge issue. Mastercard announced the launch of a CBDC test platform in 202 which allowed banks to simulate the issuance and exchange of CBDC among banks, financial service providers, and consumers as the Visa head of Crypto Chuy Sheffield said:

“Central banks are moving from research to actually wanting to have a tangible product they can experiment with.”

If Visa Is successful, it could help bridge the gap between central banks and financial institutions since the card is accepted by over 80 million merchant locations around the world. In the past year, the number of countries investigating CBDCs has doubled and according to the Atlantic COuncil’s CBDC tracker, more than 87 different countries account for 90% of the global GDP which is considered a financial technology in some way. China already started a number of digital yuan pilot initiatives and plans to accept the currency while Nigeria and the Bahamas already have their own CBDCs in circulation. Visa also announced the formation of a worldwide crypto advisory practice to assist the financial institutions in developing their crypto operations as the demand for crypto continues to grow.