Visa is embracing Web3 as it looks to further extend its distance from rival companies like; MasterCard and PayPal, the payment giant took the latest foray into the ecosystem inform of two trademark filling which hints at a major play in NFTs and the metaverse.
What is Visa
Visa is a trusted network and world leader in digital payments, with a mission to remove barriers and connect more people to the global economy.
Primarily, Visa supports payment through its cards, where people make purchases and complete payments with ease across channels.
What is Web3
The term Web3 was coined in 2014 by Polkadot founder and Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood, and the idea gained interest in 2021 from cryptocurrency enthusiasts, large technology companies, and venture capital firms.
Web3 refers to a decentralized online ecosystem based on blockchain widely seen as the future of the internet.
The trademarks
The trademarks were filled with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on October 22. The first trademark provides for the use of non-downloadable software to view access, store, monitor, manage, trade, send, receive, transmit, and exchange digital currency, virtual currency, cryptocurrency, digital and blockchain assets, and non-fungible tokens.
The second trademark involves the metaverse and will see the use of the image and likeness of the payment company in virtual worlds, in which users can interact for recreational, leisure, or entertainment purposes.
VISA has already staked its claim for a piece of market share in the digital asset industry with several partnerships.
The latest of the partnerships is with Blockchain.com, which offers U.S. citizens a debit card that will allow them to pay for goods and services using their digital asset holdings.
In March 2021, Visa launched a pilot phase that would allow merchants to settle transactions with the USD coin in fiat.
To understand NFTs, the payment giant splurged $15,000 to purchase a crypto punk collectible which it says is part of the process of understanding the infrastructure requirements for a global brand to purchase, store, and leverage an NFT.
The race between the rivals
Payment firms are beginning to lean on Web3 and are contributing immensely to adopting virtual currencies. MasterCard has 15 patents with the USPTO, including plans for a payment processor in the metaverse and an online marketplace for trading NFTs.
American Express has seven fillings with the USPTO detailing plans for a concierge service in the metaverse and branding with virtual payment cards.
PayPal and Block, formally known as Square, have all jumped in for metaverse development while has also enabled digital asset support for merchants around the globe.
Having included crypto payouts, platforms using Connect can participate in the Web3 economy without having to acquire and store crypto themselves, according to Stripe’s statement, now they can quickly pay out to their users in even more countries and improve their service for those who prefer crypto over traditional fiat payment methods.
