Visa partnered with the FTX exchange to support crypto debit cards in 40 countries globally. The debit cards have already been rolled out in the United States and will be launched in Asia, Latin America, and Europe.

Visa partners with FTX for crypto debit cards

While speaking in an interview with CNBC, the Chief Financial Officer at Visa, Vasant Prabhu, said that the crypto winter had not reduced interest in digital assets. Prahbu also said that the cards launched by Visa would allow users to have direct access to their crypto accounts and spend their holdings without transferring these funds.

Prahbu also said that Visa did not want to take a position on the long-term value of the cryptocurrency market. However, he said that the company would continue offering digital asset services as long as there was a demand for crypto offerings.

The founder and CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, commented on this development, saying that traditional payment companies needed to choose whether to support the crypto industry or fight against the industry. He also praised the move made by traditional finance companies, saying they would continue attracting interest.

The FTX CEO has also said that these cards are already available to residents in the United States. According to him, the cards would be more useful in countries where fiat currencies depreciated because of the rising inflation. Countries whose fiat has been affected by the ongoing crypto winter include Argentina and Turkey.

“Many of these things are potentially cool and valuable in the United States but more so when you look globally. That’s where you’ll find places with really poor alternatives for payment rails and huge demand for something better,” the FTX CEO said.

The partnership between Vis and FTX has had a positive effect on FTT, the native token of the platform. The token made a notable rally shortly after the news was made public. However, it has since lost the bullish momentum. At the time of writing, FTT was trading at $24.41 after a less than 1% dip in 24 hours.

Visa’s partnerships with crypto exchanges

Visa’s crypto efforts have seen it partner with multiple cryptocurrency exchanges. Earlier this year, the company partnered with the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, to launch a crypto debit card. The card can be used to pay at over 60 million merchants in 200 countries where Visa is accepted.

Visa has also previously partnered with Coinbase. The two released a debit card for UK users, allowing them to make payments in Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, and other cryptocurrencies. Coinbase later expanded the service’s reach to the US and Europe.