FTX partners with Visa to launch its debit cards in 40 countries

The cryptocurrency exchange FTX has announced its partnership with Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) to expand its debit card program into 40 other countries. Visa, one of the world’s largest global electronic fund transfer organizations, is expected to assist FTX offer debit cards across the globe starting with the selected 40 countries.

FTX already launched its debit card in the US and seeks to expand the program further despite the current bear market.

FTX debit cards

The 40 countries that FTX is targeting are in Latin America, Asia and Europe.

The debit card will allow users to do crypto transactions without much hustle. The card will be linked to the user’s FTX account where crypto assets are stored thus enabling direct crypto transactions. This eliminates the need for users to first move their crypto holdings from the exchange in order to transact.

FTX plans to start rolling out the debit cards in Latin America the earliest possible before moving to the European market, which is scheduled for completion before the end of 2022. The final rollout will be in Asia before the end of 2023.

FTX’s partnership shows Visa’s belief in crypto despite the current market conditions. In an interview with one of the media outlets, CNBC, Visa CFO, Vasant Prabhu, said:

“Even though values have come down there’s still steady interest in crypto. We don’t have a position as a company on what the value of cryptocurrency should be, or whether it’s a good thing in the long run – as long as people have things they want to buy, we want to facilitate it.”

Despite Visa’s forays into the crypto market, the Visa stock has been plummeting for the better part of 2022

FTX native token spiked after the news

Following the news of the partnership with Visa on Friday, the price of FTX’s native token, FTT, saw a sharp rise. FTT price shot up by over 8% immediately after the news to trade above $24.8.

However, at press time, FTT had come down to trade at $24.43.

Prior to the news, FTT had been sailing in the same boat as the rest of the crypto assets which have witnessed massive drops over the past few months.

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