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Al Kelly, CEO of Visa's payments giant, said that crypto currencies do not pose a threat to industry dominance "in the short to medium term".
During a recent CNBC interview, Kelly explained that digital currencies will first have to "switch from an exchange good to a real payment instrument" before they can be considered an opponent of the traditional financial system.
According to Kelly, the crypto currency market "should look more like that of fiat money", so that Visa can interact with this asset class. "If it goes in that direction," he continued, "then certainly Visa will also "move in that direction," stating that the company's goal has always been to "be at the center of any payment flow in the world.
"If we are to go there, then we are to go there. But for the moment, cryptocurrencies are more an exchange good than a payment instrument.
Although his opponent Mastercard has registered several patents for the use of blockchain technology in the traditional banking sector, the CEO of Visa has shown that his company has "a much larger network" than Mastercard.
Mastercard will need to "do more" if it is to beat the competition, Kelly concluded.
However, Visa itself has also taken its first steps into the crypto industry, announcing this week a blockchain-based identification system to facilitate international payments.