Mumtaz emphasizes that Solana presents solutions to the unusual inefficiencies prevalent in traditional banking systems. He asserts that Visa’s recent expansion of stablecoin settlements onto the Solana network holds significant benefits for the entire cryptocurrency space. While engaging with everyday individuals regarding his continued involvement in crypto, Garrett Harper often encounters sympathy for his persistence.
Nevertheless, Harper firmly believes in the positive aspects still thriving within the crypto sphere, especially in light of the recent news that Visa, the world’s largest payments processing network, is extending its stablecoin settlement technology to the Solana network. According to Mert Mumtaz, co-founder of Helius, an RCP company, this development isn’t solely advantageous for Solana; it’s a boon for the entire crypto ecosystem.
During a discussion on the Lightspeed podcast, the hosts unanimously view Visa’s expansion of stablecoin settlement capabilities onto Solana as a no-brainer move. Mumtaz had discovered a few months ago that Visa was piloting various use cases on the Ethereum blockchain. On X (formerly Twitter), Mumtaz questioned why Solana wasn’t considered for these use cases. Drawing from his extensive experience in various facets of payment infrastructure and engineering, Mumtaz regarded Solana as an obvious choice.
Replies swiftly poured in, with some suggesting that Mumtaz’s idea of Solana as a viable option for Visa was delusional. However, as soon as Mumtaz saw Visa’s official announcement on X, he revisited his tweet and responded with it, relishing the moment.
In contrast to the legacy banking system, where international money transfers involve multiple intermediaries, each incurring fees and navigating varying regulatory obstacles, Solana streamlines the process. Mumtaz highlights the peculiar inefficiencies in the traditional system and notes that using Solana for such transactions incurs minimal fees.
Mumtaz underscores that Solana boasts an average fee of only $0.00025 and finalizes blocks within 400 milliseconds, operating around the clock. This not only benefits merchants, who can now receive instant payments instead of waiting for funds to clear in their acquirer accounts, but also benefits Visa by reducing costs.
Mumtaz’s favorite aspect of this development is Solana receiving validation from the world’s leading payments provider after enduring challenges, notably the FTX incident. He asserts that they always believed in the technology’s potential for such use cases but needed pioneers like Visa to provide the stamp of approval.
Harper describes Visa’s move as a “social signal” that encourages other companies to pursue their potential projects. He anticipates that most applications will initially focus on the business-to-business (B2B) level before extending to retail-level usage, where everyday individuals like Harper and others hold and spend USDC for various transactions.
Harper envisions these transactions occurring behind the scenes, with Visa facilitating stablecoin payments to merchants who opt in for advantages such as reduced fees and faster settlement speeds. He describes this as the “backend” infrastructure that lays the foundation for such developments.
