Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies rose after Visa Inc. said its payments network will use a stablecoin backed by the U.S. dollar to settle transactions, as blockchain technology gains more acceptance in the established financial system.
As part of a pilot program, Visa is using USD Coin to settle transactions over Ethereum, with the help of the Crypto.com platform and Anchorage, a digital-asset bank, according to a statement Monday by the San Francisco-based payments giant. Visa will offer the service to more partners later this year.
Bitcoin jumped by as much as 6.3% during the European session to climb back above $58,000. The wider Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index also advanced.
Traditional financial companies are beginning to embrace cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects more than a decade after the creation of Bitcoin in 2009. That comes even as some remain skeptical of mainstream adoption. Blythe Masters, a former JPMorgan Chase & Co. executive who is now chief executive of Motive Capital, said the token remains mainly a vehicle for speculation and is unlikely to displace alternative stores of value.
Jack Forestell, Visa’s chief product officer, said the firm’s move is partly an effort to serve financial-technology companies.
“Crypto-native fintechs want partners who understand their business and the complexities of digital currency,” Forestell said in the statement. “The announcement today marks a major milestone in our ability to address the needs of fintechs.”
Most firms think they are ready for the ultra high net worth market. Most are not.
Stifel has paid or is on the hook for close to a staggering $200 million in damages and settlements to former clients of Chuck Roberts.
UBS also expanded in the Southeast with six advisors overseeing more than $2 billion, while Osaic lured a $300 million family-led practice from Wells Fargo's FiNet.
The new AI workspace rollout promises to automate the full advisor workflow just as third-party tools wage a turf war for central control of wealth firms' tech stacks.
Mega-RIA picks up $250M advisor, while three firms head for &Partners.
Direct indexing is on pace to outgrow ETFs and mutual funds. Northern Trust's Ken Lassner explains why the advisors who get it wish they had started sooner.
As $84 trillion prepares to change hands, advisors who treat estate planning as peripheral are quietly building a sieve, not a book.
