Visa Settles USDC Transaction on Ethereum, Plans Rollout to Partners

Visa Settles USDC Transaction on Ethereum, Plans Rollout to Partners

Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) – Coal’s slow downfall is gaining momentum across the U.S. as clean energy becomes cheaper and wins widespread support, but lawmakers in mining states from Wyoming to West Virginia are determined to fight back with a series of roadblocks to President Joe Biden’s plan to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. Seeking to prolong the lifespan of an industry that’s vital to local economies, at least five states are seeking to pass legislation that would give them weapons such as bigger hurdles to shut coal-fired plants, a war chest for potential legal battles, more power to state regulators over utilities, tax cuts and cheaper state insurance for power stations. The race to shield coal country from an energy transition that Biden contends will generate jobs and wealth in everything from solar-panel manufacturing to wind power generation highlights the political complexity of the shift to renewables. Even some Democrats in coal-producing states support the efforts to protect people’s livelihoods and the funding of schools and other public services in areas that derive income from the dirtiest fossil fuel. Meanwhile, utilities say the measures will drive up costs for ratepayers, while environmental groups say they’re only slowing, not stopping, the eventual move away from coal.“It’s not planning for the future,” said Dennis Wamsted, an analyst for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. “It’s protecting the past.”In Colstrip, a town in eastern Montana founded by the Northern Pacific Railway in 1924 to provide coal for steam locomotives, a power plant supplied by local mines has long been crucial to the area’s economy. That’s why Mark Sweeney, a Democratic state senator, supports proposals aimed specifically at keeping it open. Even though he recognizes climate change is a serious issue and that his stance makes him an outlier in his party, he says he worries about the devastating impact of a shutdown to the community. If it shuts, “it’s a ghost town,” he said.Sweeney, who hopes the Colstrip plant can run for at least another 10 years, also argues that few emissions are produced delivering coal from the nearby mine, and that’s much more efficient than shipping the fuel to power plants in other states or across the world. “The last one that should be shut down is the one that’s sitting on a coal pile,” he said by phone. “We have a whole lot of coal.“In Wyoming, the country’s biggest coal producer, the Republican-dominated legislature is considering a bill that would require the Public Service Commission to assume that early retirement of coal-fired power plants isn’t in the state’s best interest, making it harder for utilities to shut facilities they’ve determined aren’t economic. Another proposal would set aside half a million dollars for legal challenges against other states that pass laws restricting the use of coal.One of the goals is to protect mining jobs that underpin the local economy, said Eric Barlow, a Republican state representative who co-sponsored some of the legislation. His district in the northeast part of the state is in the heart of coal country, where output has plummeted in the past decade as utilities started using more renewables and natural gas.“There’s no doubt we’re in a transition,” said Barlow, who raises cattle, sheep and yak on his ranch. “You can imagine what that does for jobs in this community.”Republicans dominate the state’s government, controlling both chambers and holding the governor’s office. The effort is supported by the governor and at least some of the legislation is likely to become law, said Travis Deti, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association. “Wyoming is pulling out all the stops to try to save the coal industry,” Deti said.The proposals don’t sit well with utilities, which typically seek to produce power at the lowest cost through a mix of generating assets. When a plant no longer fits into the equation — because maintenance costs go up at aging facilities, or another asset might have lower fuel costs or a coal site may need to install expensive pollution-control systems — then closing it will help ensure ratepayers don’t pay unnecessarily higher costs.That’s what’s likely to happen if the state assumes more control over this decision, said David Eskelsen, a spokesman for Rocky Mountain Power, a PacifiCorp utility that operates four coal power plants in Wyoming. The company converted part of one of them to gas last year.“Legislative attempts to force these plants to stay open does raise concerns about the price of electricity customers will have to pay,” he said.Power providers in other states concur. West Virginia, the second-biggest coal producer, is considering a bill that would give state agencies additional oversight and approval authority over utilities that are seeking to close a power plant. The result could be higher power prices, or even making the state less attractive for outside investors, according to Jeri Matheney, a spokeswoman for Appalachian Power.“It certainly would make closing a plant more difficult,” she said. The American Electric Power Co. utility has three coal plants in West Virginia, including the Mitchell facility that the company has said is close to being uneconomic and may go dark in 2028.That’s what Rupie Phillips, the Republican state senator who co-sponsored the bill, wants to avoid. Coal accounts for about 20% of the state’s economy, and declining demand for the fuel at U.S. power plants threatens jobs in the region.“I’m dead against shutting proven things down to make renewables more attractive,” he said. “Not on my watch.”That strategy is ignoring a global trend away from fossil fuels, said Bill Corcoran, director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign.“Sitting on a lot of coal reserves is no longer a path to prosperity,” he said. “These states are stumbling around to find some way to delay the inevitable transition.”Other states are also pursuing legislation to protect local coal industries. North Dakota is considering a bill that would reduce taxes on coal power plants, while another would consider whether the state should offer insurance to the industry after premiums from third-party insurers climbed. Arkansas introduced legislation aimed at making it harder for utilities to close power plants.In addition to the proposals to protect the Colstrip plant in Montana, another bill would require the state to evaluate the economic impact on local communities when a utility sought to shutter a power plant, another move designed to make the process of shutting down a site harder. While that one has been tabled in the Montana House of Representatives, its Republican sponsor Braxton Mitchell expects it to be picked up in the state senate soon.“No plant, no mine,” Mitchell said. “No mine, no school, no libraries, no parks, no roads. It gets to be a pretty ugly picture pretty fast.”(Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, has committed $500 million to launch Beyond Carbon, a campaign aimed at closing the remaining coal-powered plants in the U.S. by 2030.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

Visa Partners with Crypto.com to Allow Fiat Transaction Settlement on Ethereum

Credit card and payments giant, Visa is launching a pilot program that would allow its partners to settle fiat transactions on the Ethereum blockchain. The new program is the result of a collaboration with Crypto.com.

Through the new program, the credit card issuer’s partners will have the ability to exchange USD Coin (USDC) through its payments network. Crypto.com will send USDC to Visa’s Ethereum address as a way of settling some of the transactions that have been sent through Crypto.com’s Visa card program. To facilitate this process, Visa’s treasury will be linked with Anchorage, a federally-chartered crypto bank.

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”Billions of Dollars in Fiat” Are Used to Clear and Settle Transactions on the Visa Network

Visa is seeking to make the system available to Fintech companies and neobanks that deal in cryptocurrency in particular, in USDC, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). According to CoinTelegraph, the company “reports [that] ‘billions of dollars’ in fiat are involved in clearing and settling transactions daily.” The use of the Ethereum blockchain could potentially cut down on some of these costs.

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Jack Forestell, Visa’s Chief Product Officer, said in an announcement that: “crypto-native fintechs want partners who understand their business and the complexities of digital currency form factors.”

“The announcement today marks a major milestone in our ability to address the needs of fintechs managing their business in a stablecoin or cryptocurrency.”

Crypto.com & Visa Announced Their Partnership Earlier This Month

The announcement of the pilot program follows Visa’s announcement that it would be partnering with Crypto.com earlier this month. Through the partnership, Crypto.com is expanding the availability of its cryptocurrency debit card.

When the partnership was launched, Crypto.com said that it would be offering a fiat lending program that would allow cardholders to use their crypto holdings as collateral for fiat loans. These funds can be spent on merchant platforms that support Visa payments.

Visa now settles payments in USDC stablecoin on Ethereum blockchain

Visa announced Monday that it now settles payments in the USDC stablecoin on the Ethereum blockchain.

The development means Visa has become the first major payments network to use stablecoin as a settlement currency. Until now, Visa settled payments in fiat currencies only.

For its new USDC settlement capability, Visa is initially working with Crypto.com as part of a pilot program, letting the crypto firm manage its card business now entirely in digital assets.

Previously, Visa’s standard settlement process required Crypto.com to settle in a fiat currency, which added cost and complexity for the firm. Now Crypto.com won’t have to go through conversations and settle with Visa directly in USDC.

“The announcement today marks a major milestone in our ability to address the needs of fintechs managing their business in a stablecoin or cryptocurrency,” said Visa’s chief product officer Jack Forestell. “And it’s really an extension of what we do every day, securely facilitating payments in all different currencies all across the world.”

Crypto.com co-founder and CEO Kris Marszalek said the firm wants to enable “millions of consumers across the world to access and use digital currencies,” and Visa’s capability to “directly accept and interact with digital currencies” helps enable it to maximize the benefits of digital currencies.

Visa’s settlement agent for the USDC capability is crypto bank Anchorage. That means Crypto.com sends USDC to Visa’s Ethereum address at Anchorage.

“Visa came to us in 2019 with an idea—make secure, efficient, and seamless settlement payments possible in digital currency by linking Visa’s treasury with Anchorage’s custody platform,” said Diogo Mónica, co-founder and president of Anchorage. “This would give the next generation of crypto native issuers the option to directly settle with Visa in a digital currency over a public blockchain.”

Visa said the new service is “one small step forward” for its settlement platform, but “one giant step forward” to integrate digital assets.

After further testing and additional conversations with its clients, partners, and members of the regulatory community, Visa hopes to launch the USDC settlement capability for other partners as well “in the year ahead.”

Eventually, Visa also plans to settle payments in central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Earlier this month, Visa CEO Alfred Kelly said the company aims to cover bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as well, along with stablecoins.

Visa rival Mastercard has also intended to capture business opportunities in the crypto and stablecoins space, as well as in the future CBDCs space.