Visas Experimental Ethereum Solution for Gas Fees with Credit and Debit Cards

Visa Explores Ethereum Blockchain for Gas Fee Payments

Visa has introduced an experimental solution on the Ethereum blockchain that allows users to pay gas fees using their Visa credit or debit cards. The aim is to simplify the process of interacting with decentralized applications (dapps) on the Ethereum blockchain, making digital transactions more accessible and user-friendly.

Key Points:

Visa conducted the successful test during an internal hackathon on the Ethereum Goerli testnet, which replicates the Ethereum mainnet’s functionality for testing purposes.
Traditionally, users had to acquire ETH from exchanges or on-ramp services and transfer the coins to their wallets to cover gas fees. This often resulted in overspending or insufficient ETH balances.
Visa utilized cutting-edge technologies, including paymaster smart contract agreements, account abstraction, and the ERC-4337 standard, for the experiment.
Account abstraction transforms a traditional crypto wallet into a “smart contract wallet,” providing enhanced capabilities such as gasless transactions and social recovery.
ERC-4337 outlines a specific approach for implementing account abstraction within a cryptocurrency wallet.

How the Tech Works:

In Visa’s implementation, when a user initiates a transaction on the blockchain, the wallet generates a User Operation request with transaction details and allocated cost for gas fees. Instead of immediately transmitting the request to the blockchain, the wallet sends it along with the user’s Visa card credentials to a paymaster web service.

Hot Take:

Visa’s exploration of using the Ethereum blockchain for gas fee payments is a significant step towards making decentralized applications more accessible and user-friendly. By allowing users to pay gas fees with their Visa cards, the complexity of acquiring and managing ETH balances is reduced. This experiment showcases the potential for traditional payment solutions to integrate with blockchain technology, opening up new possibilities for the wider adoption of cryptocurrencies.