Bitcoin rallies to one-week high after Visa pilots crypto transactions

The world’s most popular cryptocurrency bitcoin has crossed the $58,000 level for the first time in a week. The rally comes as global payment giant Visa announced its first direct transaction in a cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin was up more than 4% to hit $58,353 on Monday afternoon, according to Coindesk data. It shed some gains later in the day, but was still trading near the $58,000 level as of 2pm GMT.

Other top cryptocurrencies were also trading higher on Monday, with the second largest token by market cap, ethereum, adding almost 5% and Ripple’s XRP jumping around 3%. 

The rally in digital currencies came on the heels of the news that Visa wants to use the cryptocurrency USD Coin (USDC) on its payment network, allowing it to settle transactions in the stablecoin without converting it to traditional money. The first transaction with USDC was made earlier this month, and Visa plans to allow more companies to use the option in the future. 

While Visa’s move marks another step in the broader acceptance of cryptocurrencies, stablecoins like USDC are much different from the likes of bitcoin. Stablecoins are pegged to more stable assets, usually a fiat currency like the US dollar, and are less volatile. 

Bitcoin returned to growth at the end of last year and has been breaking its own price records in recent months, setting a new all-time high of $61,556. The cryptocurrency has surged nearly 100% since the beginning of 2021.

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