Visa has announced a collaboration with WeFi, a blockchain-based stablecoin infrastructure company co-founded by Reeve Collins, a former Tether executive. The partnership seeks to establish a comprehensive on-chain payment and banking system, bridging the gap for users. WeFi's platform acts as an intermediary between decentralized finance and traditional payment infrastructure, facilitating use cases such as cross-border transactions and on-chain value storage. According to Collins, the platform will provide users with bank account-like services, including IBAN numbers, and will obtain necessary licenses to operate globally.
As the platform expands, it plans to partner with additional banks and institutions to cater to the underbanked population. The rollout will occur regionally, starting with select markets in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, pending local regulatory approvals and partnerships. Collins noted that the partnership with Visa completes the on-chain banking infrastructure, while Mathieu Altwegg, Visa's Head of Product & Solutions in Europe, emphasized that the collaboration demonstrates how Visa's global network interacts with on-chain models within established regulatory frameworks, ensuring reliability for consumers and merchants.