Visa, the world’s largest payments processor, said on Sunday it was severing its global credit card agreements with collapsed crypto exchange FTX. “The situation with FTX is unfortunate and we are monitoring developments closely,” a Visa spokesperson told Reuters. “We have terminated our global agreements with FTX and their US debit card program is being wound down by their issuer.”
FTX and Visa had announced an expanded partnership in early October, including plans to introduce account-linked Visa debit cards in 40 new countries.
At the time, Visa, that has been in the financial business since 1958, said that it believes that virtual currencies are here to stay and will eventually have a lasting impact on the future of financial services around the world.
As part of the now severed deal, FTX was expected to offer company branded Visa debit cards for all of its customers, globally, and the cards would have enabled users to use their cryptocurrency balances saved on FTX wallets to purchase goods and services in locations that accept the Visa cards. In addition, holders of these FTX Visa debit cards would not have been subject to any administrative or processing fees for using the card.
Meanwhile, Visa has made a number of recent trademark applications hinting at a larger move into crypto markets. On October 27, licensed trademark attorney Mike Kondoudis revealed the latest trademark applications for credit giant Visa. The applications suggest that the firm is looking to develop or launch its own digital asset wallet. The two trademark filings included software for managing digital, virtual, and cryptocurrency transactions, and cryptocurrency wallets. Additionally, there were provisions for auditing cryptocurrencies, utility tokens, and blockchain assets.
Visa’s trademark applications did not stop at crypto transaction software and wallets. They also included provisions for non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Visa also applied for trademarks for “non-downloadable virtual goods” such as NFT collectibles. There were even hints of Metaverse ambitions in the descriptions with wording such as, “Providing virtual environments in which users can interact for recreational, leisure or entertainment purposes accessible in the virtual world.”
