Coinbase Integrates Support For Visa Direct

Coinbase, the largest U.S. centralized exchange, has partnered with payment giant Visa to reduce frictions for crypto investors.

Announced on Oct. 29, the partnership allows eligible Visa debit card users in the United States and European Union to fund their Coinbase accounts instantly via Visa Direct, a real-time payment system.

The integration also allows Coinbase customers holding Visa cards to make direct crypto purchases and instant withdrawals to bank accounts.

"Bringing this feature to our customers supports our mission of increasing economic freedom in the world," said Akash Shah, the senior director of product management at Coinbase. "The integration with Visa Direct gives our eligible customers real-time access to their funds for trading.”

This news follows several partnerships between Visa and the web3 ecosystem.

On Oct. 22, the Avalanche Foundation announced a Visa crypto card allowing users to make payments from Wrapped AVAX (wAVAX), BENQI Liquid Staked AVAX (sAVAX), and USD Coin balances. The move came after EtherFi announced a Visa card tied to users’ restaking holdings in May.

On Oct. 28, FV Bank, a digital asset custodian, partnered with Visa to launch debit cards allowing FV bank customers to convert cryptocurrency into USD to make payments.

Crypto.com usurps Coinbase’s USD dominance

Coinbase’s Visa Direct integration comes as the exchange seeks to fend off competition from Crypto.com, which overtook Coinbase as the top centralized exchange by U.S. dollar trading volume in July.

According to data from The Block, Crypto.com’s USD-denominated monthly spot trading volume jumped to $132.95 billion or a 63.4% dominance in October from $37.11 billion in January. For comparison, Coinbase’s volume dropped to $54 billion or 24.6% in October — a decline of 28.81% from $75.85 billion in January.

However, data from CoinGecko shows that Coinbase hosted $3.1 billion worth of trade over the past 24 hours across all pairings, significantly beating out Crypto.com with $888.2 million. Coinbase also hosted 30 million monthly visits, compared to $3.25 million on Crypto.com.

Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, recently noted Crypto.com’s BTC trading volume is up 200% year-to-date. “Liquidity has kept pace with trade volumes, suggesting market makers are also more active on the platform,” he added.

BTC and ETH account for more than 96% of Crypto.com’s trading volume across USD stablecoin and USD pairs, per data from Coingecko.