Visa and Mastercard to support Alchemy Pay virtual crypto cards – Hybrid crypto-fiat platform Alchemy Pay announced Monday that the company will be launching virtual crypto-linked cards accepting more than 40 cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC).
The new cards can be linked to Google Pay and PayPal digital wallets, and make payments across the Mastercard and Visa networks, as well as popular e-commerce platforms like Amazon and eBay.
According to the announcement, Alchemy Pay has already completed the product’s development and launched beta testing in multiple key markets. The firm expects to proceed with a full roll-out of the new product at the end of 2021 or early 2022.
The new initiative is launched in response to growing demand for crypto-linked card transactions, allowing crypto businesses to offer a full range of services as well as to help traditional institutions integrate crypto-related solutions, Alchemy Pay said. As previously reported, Visa alone processed over $1 billion in total crypto spending in the first half of 2021.
Alchemy Pay did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The news comes shortly after Alchemy Pay last week partnered with Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volumes. As part of the integration with Alchemy Pay, Binance will unlock crypto payments across merchants of Alchemy Pay’s partners in 18 countries, including e-commerce giant Shopify, software technology company Arcadier, mobile payment provider QFPay and others. The new feature would be available through Binance’s payments application Binance Pay.
As previously reported, both Visa and Mastercard have been aggressively moving into the cryptocurrency industry over the past year.
After announcing payment compatibility for Circle’s stablecoin USD Coin (USDT) in late 2020, Visa has reaffirmed its commitment to crypto payments and fiat on-ramps, outlining a particular focus on stablecoin-based integrations. Mastercard has entered partnerships with Circle and blockchain firm Paxos to enable banks and crypto companies to roll out crypto cards globally.