Crypto Biz: Did crypto winter scare off Visa and Mastercard?

cointelegraph.com:

Crypto cycles aren’t for the faint-hearted. As the industry continues to evolve from the cypherpunks into the mainstream, we can expect a lot of growing pains. The dumpster fire that was 2022 may have scared off many companies interested in exploring the sector. Case in point: Visa and Mastercard’s embrace of crypto may have hit a snag thanks to the bear market and unclear regulations.

According to a new report by Reuters, the credit card giants are halting the launch of certain crypto products until market conditions and the regulatory environment improve. Cuy Sheffield, who heads Visa’s crypto division, wasn’t pleased with the report, reassuring the market that Visa is very much committed to seeing through its crypto ambitions.

This week’s Crypto Biz explores the latest reports around Visa and Mastercard, Jack Dorsey’s decentralized Twitter alternative, and Goldman Sachs’ apparent need for more digital asset professionals.

Credit card giants Visa and Mastercard will delay the launch of new crypto partnerships due to the bear market and murky regulatory conditions, according to a Feb. 28 report by Reuters. The companies are hesitant to launch new crypto partnerships following high-profile bankruptcies in the sector, like FTX, BlockFi, Celsius, Voyager, Genesis etc. “Recent high-profile failures in the crypto sector are an important reminder that we have a long way to go before crypto becomes a part of mainstream payments and financial services,” a Visa spokesperson said. However, Visa’s crypto head later clarified that the company continues to “partner with crypto companies to improve fiat on and off-ramps.”

1/ This story is inaccurate as it pertains to Visa, here’s the reality https://t.co/oAEaj7MsX0

Jack Dorsey is