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• Visa is testing an innovative solution to enable users to pay off-chain gas fees using their Visa card.
• The solution utilizes Ethereum’s ERC-4337 standard and the “Paymaster” smart contract, thereby eliminating the need for users to hold ETH merely for paying fees.
• The Paymaster framework has the potential to reduce friction for blockchain users and merchants or decentralized applications.
Visa Explores Crypto Gas Fees Payments Through Cards
Visa, a payments solutions provider, is testing an innovative solution that enables on-chain gas fees to be paid using a Visa card. This would eliminate the need for continuously adjusting Ether (ETH) balances in order to cover gas fees and potentially reduce friction for blockchain users.
How it Works
The process involves the user triggering an Ethereum transaction via wallet which is sent to the Paymaster. The web service computes the gas fee and charges Visa using Cybersource, after which a digital signature is provided and momentarily validated before being attached by the wallet and sent to Ethereum. Paymaster verifies the signature and covers the gas fee so that no ETH needs to be held simply for paying fees.
Testing on Goerli Testnet
Visa has trialed this concept on the Ethereum Goerli testnet, utilizing available open-source tools like Stackup’s userop.js library, with successful transactions covering fees through Paymaster without requiring ETH balances.
Wider Implications
This concept also has wider implications as merchants or decentralized applications could utilize this framework in order to reduce friction even further with regards to payment of gas fees.
Conclusion
This new solution presents great potential for improving user experience when dealing with cryptocurrency wallets as it eliminates any confusion associated with maintaining correct ETH balances – leading instead towards a more seamless usage of cryptocurrencies supported by Visa cards
