Visa chief believes crypto may become mainstream soon

According to the chief executive of Visa, Alfred Kelly, cryptocurrencies may become mainstream in the near future

Visa chief Alfred Kelly believes crypto assets may become widely prevalent in the next five years. He appeared to hold cryptocurrencies in high regard when making the remarks that seemingly contrast his stance on the same subject in January.

The Visa executive talked about cryptocurrencies vaguely earlier this year when the multinational financial services company revealed its quarterly results. Kelly, who has been at the company’s helm for over three years now, didn’t report any upcoming or planned projects involving digital assets.

He now acknowledges crypto can turn out to be established or end up being a short-lived craze.

“The thing about our business that I actually like is […] that we don’t pick winners and losers. You know, as you and I sit here and talk today, I don’t know to what degree cryptocurrencies are gonna take off. Are we gonna say in five years that it was a fad and it wasn’t a big deal? Or is it gonna be extremely mainstream?”

The chief wants the credit card giant to be at the heart of the sector’s developments if digital assets end up becoming extremely mainstream. Kelly made the remarks when speaking to Alan Murray, Fortune’s CEO on the ‘Leadership Next‘ podcast. The Visa boss argued that by being in the middle of the crypto boom, the company would make the most out of the business opportunity.

“I’m not smart enough to know, but what I’m smart enough to do is make sure that our company is in the middle of it today.”

Kelly explained that Visa is taking a new approach oriented towards money movement. Payments are no longer the sole objective of the company based on his statement.

“If it takes off and we can get our fair share or more of the volume because we anticipate that possibly could take off and become a big deal, we certainly wanna be prepared for that, and I think we are off to a very good start.”

The Visa chief perceives cryptocurrencies in two different ways–Bitcoin (BTC) and fiat-backed digital currencies (stablecoins). The former, in his opinion, is the digital replacement of Gold. In regards to BTC, Kelly revealed that Visa was in the process of enabling its purchase while also collaborating with some wallets to allow for its conversion into a fiat currency. On the other hand, the Visa head foresees the latter evolving to become viable payment options.