Visa is making waves in digital finance with the launch of its Visa Tokenized Asset Platform (VTAP), a groundbreaking service designed to facilitate the issuance and management of digital assets like stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
Announced on October 3, VTAP aims to bring the future of digital finance to the fingertips of institutional investors and central banks.
With its new platform, Visa is offering end-to-end infrastructure for minting, transferring, and settling digital assets seamlessly across both public and permissioned blockchains.
For example, a bank could automate complex credit line administration using smart contracts, or offer customers the ability to purchase tokenized assets like commodities or treasuries with near-real-time settlement.
A bank could also enable their customers to use a fiat-backed token to purchase tokenized commodities or tokenized treasuries with near-real-time settlement onchain.”
Visa envisions VTAP as a one-stop solution for banks looking to digitize and automate workflows. It offers seamless blockchain integration through a single API connection, enabling banks to operate across multiple blockchain ecosystems efficiently.
However, Visa’s move into decentralized finance comes amid legal challenges. On September 24, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against the company, accusing it of operating a monopoly in the debit payments sector.
Also Read: DOJ Targets Visa’s Alleged Monopoly: Could Stablecoins Challenge the Payments Giant?
Just two days later, the watchdog group Accountable.US also pointed at Visa and Mastercard for creating a duopoly in the credit card market.
Despite this scrutiny, Visa is pushing forward, positioning VTAP as a future-proof bridge to decentralized finance, ready to power the next generation of digital financial services.
