Leading global payment corporation, Visa, has recently experimented with feeless payments on Ethereum’s Goerli testnet, utilizing the concept of account abstraction.
On-chain analytics reveal that Visa employed a smart contract named Paymaster. This enabled the firm to harness account abstraction, facilitating intricate tasks on account holders’ behalf while also overseeing transaction expenses.
The primary function of the Paymaster contract is to provide a mechanism where users can settle gas charges using any token. This effectively removes the requirement for users to maintain Ether in their digital wallets.
Cuy Sheffield, who heads the Crypto division at Visa, acknowledged the company’s advancements on this front. In a recent Twitter update, he expressed his enthusiasm, stating, “Thrilled about Visa’s inaugural deployment of the paymaster smart contract on the Goerli testnet. We remain committed to delving deeper into account abstraction and ERC-4337.”
ERC-4337 is a protocol standard on Ethereum that facilitates account abstraction without necessitating any alterations at the consensus layer. This standard empowers users to group together and automate transactions on the platform.
Visa has publicly recognized the potential advantages of this method. The company believes that it introduces a degree of adaptability and can refine the user experience when conducting transactions in digital currencies.
In December 2022, Visa unveiled the account abstraction initiative on its official blog. At that juncture, account abstraction hadn’t been incorporated into the Ethereum ecosystem.
It’s essential to acknowledge the longstanding association between Visa and Ethereum. This relationship can be traced back to 2021, when Visa declared that it was processing transactions using the USDC stablecoin on Ethereum’s blockchain.
Visa Maintains Commitment to Crypto Despite Recent Meltdown
Despite the recent turbulence in the crypto arena, leading to the downfall of several notable digital asset firms, Visa remains steadfast in its dedication to the cryptocurrency domain.
In March, Sheffield conveyed the company’s intention to persevere with its crypto-centric strategy, aiming to forge new alliances with entities operating in the digital asset sector.
Sheffield emphasized that the latest downturn in the crypto market hasn’t altered Visa’s perspective on digital assets. He highlighted the company’s continued conviction in “fiat-backed digital currencies operating on public blockchains,” alluding to stablecoins. According to him, such currencies are poised to assume a pivotal role in the future landscape of payments.
Shortly after Visa’s reaffirmation of its commitment to digital assets, a report by Reuters indicated that both Visa and Mastercard had opted to postpone the introduction of their crypto-focused offerings due to the prevailing volatile market conditions.
However, in a more recent development, Sheffield disclosed a fresh crypto-centric initiative. This project aims to bolster the widespread acceptance of public blockchain platforms and stabilize coin transactions.
Reinforcing this commitment, Sheffield shared a Visa job advertisement from April 20, emphasizing that the company’s crypto wing is in the process of crafting the “next wave of products” tailored to ease the digital commerce experiences of everyday consumers.
Both Visa and Mastercard have been fervently exploring and investing in the crypto realm in the preceding years, championing it as the impending frontier in the spheres of finance and transactional operations.
