Visa has filed a patent to digitize dollars and there is an indication that the global payment service provider may be using the Ethereum platform to launch its project.

A copy from the patent documents gave the hint though no official position has been made in this regard apart from that Visa wants to digitize fiat currencies such as the US dollar and the system will operate under a central authority or a central bank. Meanwhile, it should be understood that a patent filing is not a deployment plan as the invention could be a product filed for potential future defensive purposes.

Hence there’s been a debate that Visa could either build its own platform should the payment processor seek to get involved in the crypto space or use a cross-border Automated Clearing House for payments like Earthport which it reportedly paid $257 mln for in a deal.

Or it could create a custom private chain based on Ethereum and not the Ethereum network itself supporting the claim that only one embodiment of the patent filing suggests how the disclosed invention might be implemented using Ethereum but didn’t actually say anything about how or whether Visa did planned to do it.

Either way, the current second most largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has been praised for its growth and reach into non-crypto industries which stands the chance to make the network more attractive as an investment vehicle which will in turn impact the price of its native asset positively.

China may have been an early adopter of the digital currency initiative with its centralized version which has been reported to be in the testing phase across four major Chinese cities, Visa’s pursuit of a digital dollar somewhat points at a pending shift in global markets.

Generally, the digital currency idea has gained hearts especially with the coronavirus pandemic which has supposedly pushed the work from home trend, fueled the gig economy and increased the embrace of cashless transactions. It seeks to blur the lines of international boundaries leading to seamless cross-border global trades and trigger the rise of digital banks.

Okay, we're doing this. tBTC is being deployed to mainnet.

Buckle up. #bitcoin #ethereum 💏

— Matt Luongo (@mhluongo) May 15, 2020

Ethereum’s supposed foray into supporting institutional digital currency project will be a huge boost for the cryptocurrency. It will add to the recent launch of tBTC on the Ethereum mainnet which now allows interested users to move Bitcoin in and out of Ethereum in a decentralised and trustless way. This brings Bitcoin to most applications in the Ethereum ecosystem e.g. DeFi. The use of tBTC, instead of Bitcoin, is equally significant for when transactions on the Bitcoin network becomes higher as the Ethereum-based asset has a fixed issuance, acts as a store of value and can move and be traded at higher speeds since it doesn’t have to confirm back to the Bitcoin chain whenever it changes hands.