Visa Inc joined its rival Mastercard Inc in offering central banks a way to test retail applications for digital currencies that they might issue.
The card payment provider would begin piloting a program this spring with ConsenSys Inc, a blockchain software company, after discussions with about 30 central banks about goals related to government-backed digital currencies, Visa said.
Governments across the globe have been exploring the release of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in the face of fears that rapidly growing cryptocurrencies could destabilize financial markets or replace fiat currencies.
“We think that stablecoins and CBDCs will coexist in the future, and there’ll
The nearly five-hour-long hearing could help further legitimize crypto, though it also revealed the difficulties federal officials face in regulating the industry.
Representatives of major cryptocurrency firms on Wednesday told US lawmakers that they are open to strengthening regulation of the emerging sector.
In the first hearing of its kind before the US House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services, Coinbase Global Inc chief financial officer Alesia Haas called on the US government to develop “a new comprehensive framework that recognizes the unique technological innovations underpinning digital assets.”
A single government regulator should oversee cryptocurrency “to ensure holders of digital assets are empowered and protected,” she said.
The US has become increasingly interested in regulating cryptocurrencies, as bitcoin and its peers have gained value and
The Biden administration on Monday took the first significant step to impose banklike oversight on the cryptocurrency companies involved in the issuance of stablecoins, outlining a process that could shape the future of that digital money.