Visa terminates agreement with FTX exchange to launch cryptocurrency cards

On Sunday, representatives of the international payment system Visa announced that the company is terminating its partnership with the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The launch of Visa and FTX debit cards in more than 40 countries in Latin America, Europe, and Asia has been canceled. The payment giant made this decision due to the collapse of Сем Бенкман-Фрід" href="https://noworries.media/biography/sem-benkman-frid/" data-bio-id="3697">Sam Bankman-Fried's exchange, which affected the entire cryptocurrency market.

«The situation around FTX is complex, and we will continue to closely monitor developments. We have terminated our global agreements with FTX, and the debit card program has been suspended,» a Visa spokesperson told Reuters.

In early October, FTX announced the phased launch of a Visa debit card, with residents of Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries in the Americas to receive FTX cards first, followed by Europe by the end of 2022, and Asia later. Users' digital assets were supposed to be automatically converted into the required amount in fiat at the time of payment for goods or services. FTX planned not to charge transaction fees.

As for the state of affairs at FTX: the cryptocurrency exchange was hacked by hackers (who turned out to be former employees of the platform), according to investigators, digital assets worth more than $ 600 million were stolen. Sam Bankman-Fried resigned as FTX CEO, and the company declared bankruptcy. The day before, the exchange had only $ 900 million in liquid assets against $ 9 billion in liabilities. Bankman-Fried is currently under investigation by the SEC and is trying to flee the Bahamas to Dubai.