Visa is teaming up with a Tether co-founder to build onchain banks

Visa (V) is working with blockchain-based stablecoin infrastructure firm WeFi, to help establish the “last half mile” that can provide users with robust onchain payments and banking services, the companies said on Tuesday.

WeFi, which is co-founded by former Tether OG Reeve Collins, describes its platform as “an orchestration layer between decentralized finance (DeFi) and regulated payment infrastructure, designed to support use cases such as cross‑border spending and on‑chain value storage,” according to a press release.

“We’re upgrading the plumbing and offering essentially people bank accounts, because they’ll soon have their IBAN numbers, and we’re getting the various licenses around the world to operate appropriately,” Collins said in an interview.

As the platform scales, the plan is to partner with more banks and institutions, with a view towards the underbanked of the world, Collins said.

The rollout will take place region by region, starting with selected markets in Europe, Asia and Latin America. Expansion into additional markets will depend on local regulatory approvals and issuing partnerships.

“The partnership with Visa really closes that last half mile of onchain banking infrastructure,” Collins said.

“This collaboration demonstrates how Visa’s global network interacts with onchain models, while operating within established regulatory frameworks and the reliability consumers and merchants expect,” said Mathieu Altwegg, Head of Product & Solutions in Europe at Visa, in a statement.