Visa Moves to Shut Down Memecoin Rewards Loophole After Investigation
V sits 25% above its 52-week low of $293.89 on elevated volume (2.6× avg).
Summary
Visa is instructing payment processors to stop categorizing memecoin purchases under the 'digital media' merchant category code, which allowed users to earn credit card rewards on crypto buys. The move follows The Block's investigation into Crossmint, which powered such transactions for Fomo and Robinhood Wallet. Processors have a grace period expected to end next week, after which memecoin purchases must be processed as typical cryptocurrency transactions subject to Visa's restrictions. This is a regulatory compliance action that could reduce transaction volume from memecoin purchases, though the financial impact is likely modest relative to Visa's overall business. The action also highlights Visa's tightening oversight of crypto-related transactions, which may affect partnerships with crypto payment processors.
At the time of this announcement, V was trading at $368.67 on NYSE in the Finance sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $687.6B. The 52-week trading range was $293.89 to $385.57. This news item was assessed with negative market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10. Source: The Block.