Despite recent turmoil in the crypto markets, Visa is “doubling down” on its efforts to prepare for blockchains to become mainstream payments infrastructure. 

Visa expects blockchain technology to transform consumer payments within the next ten years and it’s dedicated to being on the forefront of that transition, according to head of crypto Cuy Sheffield. The firm’s strategy revolves on the “DeFi mullet” assumption that the blockchain will eventually become a standard, backend technology that users don’t need to understand in order to use. In other words, fintech in the front, DeFi in the back.  

In the meantime, Visa aims to “crank out research in demos and proof of concepts to show what’s possible,” like its recent proposal about automating recurring payments on the Ethereum blockchain, Sheffield told Tearsheet.  

Following FTX’s implosion, the firm has seen a shift away from crypto exchanges towards fiat-backed stablecoins that allow consumers outside the States to access the dollar. “Many of the products we’re working on with our partners tend to be consumers holding dollars in stablecoins on a crypto platform,” Cuy said. “How can they spend that form of a dollar at any place that accepts Visa?”  

Read the rest of Sheffield’s interview with Tearsheet here.