Visa Introduces Layer 2 Interoperability Concept for CBDCs
- Visa’s Universal Payment Channel (UPC) will connect multiple blockchain networks.
- Once launched, the new concept will allow for a quick and seamless transfer of CBDCs and stablecoins between various networks.
Close up of VISA sign at global headquarters in Silicon Valley, Foster City, CA, 24 August 2019. Sundry Photography/Shutterstock
Visa’s research and product team has unveiled the company’s new cross-chain interoperability concept called the Universal Payment Channel (UPC). According to the company’s presentation, UPC will act like a hub, interconnecting multiple blockchain networks and allowing digital currencies to be transferred quickly and securely. It will be designed to enable central banks, businesses, and consumers to seamlessly exchange value, no matter the form factor of the currency.
Visa’s effort to develop UPC on top of existing financial tools and services comes from its belief in the future of digital currencies. The company hinted that it wanted to stay ahead of the current development seen in central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) by creating a system that caters both to consumers and merchants.
“We believe that for CBDCs to be successful, they must have two essential ingredients: a great consumer experience and widespread merchant acceptance. It means the ability to make and receive payments, regardless of currency, channel, or form factor. And that’s where Visa’s UPC concept comes in,” the company said in a blog post.
Aside from connecting CBDC networks between countries, UPC will be designed to connect CBDC networks with other vetted private stablecoin networks. UPC’s infrastructure will enable developers to easily add new payment channels to the network and deliver high transaction throughput securely and reliably,
“While UPC would exist in the background for most users, it would deliver the kind of cross-chain interoperability that makes CBDC useful and attractive for consumers and businesses globally,” Visa explained.
- The head of China’s central bank digital currency institute said the e-CNY has undergone a major upgrade, and should be made available as an option in all retail scenarios.
- The PBOC official noted that platforms can integrate the CBDC in the short term using QR codes, and focus on upgrading their payment tools in the long run.
Office building of the People’s Bank of China. Flickr
- Coinbase’s Base blockchain was made available to the public on Wednesday, featuring over 100 dApps and services as part of its ecosystem.
- In order to show its capabilities and promote its mainnet partners, Base has also launched an event called “Onchain Summer” that will allow users to mint exclusive NFTs on the network.
- Coinbase’s protocol security team and over 100 external security researchers were involved with testing the upcoming layer 2 Base blockchain over the past six months.
- The project said it has now completed four out of five criteria for Base’s mainnet launch, with the remaining one being to demonstrate “testnet stability”.