Visa Won’t Pick Winners and Losers in Crypto Push, CFO Says

(Bloomberg) -- Visa Inc. Chief Financial Officer Vasant Prabhu vowed the payments giant won’t be picking winners and losers as part of its push into the world of cryptocurrencies. 

The firm debuted a crypto advisory practice on Wednesday as part of its sprawling consulting business. The unit will help banks develop a crypto offering, and assist retailers looking to get into the world of non-fungible tokens. 

Visa said Wednesday it surveyed 6,000 consumers globally and found a whopping 94% of participants were aware of crypto. Of those, nearly a third already own or use digital currencies, while more than 80% of crypto owners expressed interest in crypto-linked cards. 

“We’re a network and our job is to enable any way people want to transfer value or people want to do transactions or move money,” Prabhu said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “We don’t pick winners or losers. We’re not taking a position on whether Bitcoin is a good idea or a bad idea. We’re just enabling things so that our consumers can do what they need to do.”

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