A prediction made more than a decade ago about closer ties between Bitcoin startups and traditional payment companies increasingly resembles the payments market of 2026.
Former Electronic Transactions Association CEO Jason Oxman discussed that possibility in an August 2014 interview with CoinDesk. His comments followed BitPay becoming the first digital currency company to join the payments trade group. Oxman said the association would remain open to new payment technologies without formally backing Bitcoin over other systems.
Early Bitcoin partnerships pointed to a wider shift
Oxman argued that payment companies ultimately respond to how consumers and merchants choose to transact. He said the industry was “in the business of facilitating electronic transactions,” regardless of which technology carried those payments.
The comments came during an early period for commercial Bitcoin adoption, when regulators were still debating New York’s BitLicense proposal. Oxman also warned regulators against applying rules simply because a technology was new, while accepting that consumer protection remained a valid concern.
The leadership of ETA has since changed. Jodie Kelley became the organization’s CEO in 2019, and ETA now operates a dedicated Digital Assets committee alongside its other payments industry groups.
Visa and Mastercard build direct crypto partnerships
The type of partnership Oxman discussed is now common across the payments industry. Visa and Stripe-owned Bridge announced plans in March to expand stablecoin-linked Visa cards to more than 100 countries by the end of 2026. As reported by crypto.news, the cards allow users to spend stablecoin balances across Visa’s merchant network.
Visa has also expanded its stablecoin settlement pilot to nine blockchains. The company said in April that the program had reached a $7 billion annualized settlement rate. Visa said the expansion gives payment partners more choice when selecting blockchain networks.
Mastercard has followed a similar path. Its Crypto Partner Program brings together more than 100 crypto companies, financial institutions and payment providers. As reported by crypto.news, Alchemy Pay joined the initiative in May to explore closer links between fiat payments and onchain commerce.
Stablecoins now lead much of the payments expansion
The industry’s focus has also shifted from Bitcoin alone toward stablecoins. Visa, Mastercard and Coinbase recently joined more than 140 companies backing Open Standard, a group developing the Open USD stablecoin.
As reported by crypto.news, the project plans to create payment infrastructure for businesses using a dollar-linked digital asset. The move puts major card networks directly alongside crypto-native companies in developing blockchain payment systems.
BitPay has also continued expanding. Crypto.news recently reported that the payment company secured MiCA authorization in the Netherlands, allowing it to provide regulated crypto and stablecoin services across eligible European Union markets.
More than a decade after Oxman predicted growing cooperation, partnerships between traditional payment networks and crypto companies have moved from isolated experiments into cards, settlement systems, stablecoins and cross-border payments.
