VISA announces API enabling Banks to Provide Bitcoin Services
Visa has announced the future launch of an API (Application Programming Interface) that will enable banks and other financial institutions to offer bitcoin-related services to their clients. Like PayPal, JP Morgan and many others, Visa used to be a true antagonist to bitcoin. But it seems all these companies are subscribing to the "if you can't beat em join em" mentality. This is good news for any crypto enthusiast, because all signs point to mainstream adoption of our beloved "magical internet money".
Visa announced it news on February 3rd via press release. There's no doubt in my mind that the current BTC rally didn't have anything to do with this. A major fintech company buying #bitcoin to then make an announcement involving BTC afterwards to boost the price sounds like a very likely scenario to me. But that's just my viewpoint.
Pros
As I said before, the overall pro of this API would obviously be getting steps closer to mainstream adoption. The crypto community is fanatic and doesn't like banks one bit, but the majority of people making international transactions at the moment have some sort of bank account. This demographic usually doesn't know what cryptocurrency is, how to acquire it and if they do come across a source that offers it to them, they are likely to mistrust it. Having it readily available through a service their "trusty" bank offers, might be the initial bridge to financial freedom for many.
Cons
Although any publicity for cryptocurrency is good publicity at this point, I am extremely skeptical of Visa rolling out an API that handles and registers buys and sells of Bitcoin. An API that will likely be centralized in nature and keep records in the banks archives linking people to the value of their addresses and crypto on those addresses. This in turn links that value to potential government databases, which finalizes a situation that goes against the concept of decentralization. Going through the bureaucracy of a bank is another downside, as some banks require much more info, documents and steps from you to sign up for a service. Personally I want to be done with banks altogether.
While the motives of companies like Visa and the eventual outcome may be questionable, their entry into the crypto game is a clear sign of the increase in majority acceptance of the blockchain concept. And I for one am excited of the potential benefits these movements will generate.
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