Visa has teamed up with former Tether CEO Reeve Collins’ “on-chain banking” firm WeFi to enable digital asset payments using infrastructure that lets consumers maintain control of their crypto, rather than holding it on centralized exchanges, according to a statement Tuesday.

"WeFi allows its users to hold their assets," Collins told The Block. "And that architecture is different because we enable self-custody wallets so the users at the end of the day, they keep their keys, they keep access to their funds, but we ensure that they can use it for payment wherever Visa is accepted."

"People really want to control their own funds and not leave them on exchanges or give up their keys," he added.

Initially, the collaboration will focus on determining how WeFi's onchain banking infrastructure, teamed with Visa's network, can scale stablecoin-based payments "in selected markets," the companies said.

"As interest in digital assets grows, our focus is on making these new models practical at scale, by connecting them to payment experiences people already trust," Visa's Head of Product & Solutions in Europe, Mathieu Altwegg, said in a statement. "This collaboration demonstrates how Visa’s global network interacts with onchain models."

The collaboration adds to a rapidly growing list of initiatives between existing payment networks and digital asset firms — including exchanges and wallet providers — to enable crypto holders to spend their funds using a Visa or Mastercard. Last month, Visa and Stripe-owned stablecoin firm Bridge said they plan to expand their stablecoin-linked card issuance product to over 100 countries. 

Collins, co-founder and chairman of WeFi, said users often treat crypto holdings as savings or investments, while stablecoins function more like a checking account. The executive co-founded Tether and acted as CEO until 2015, according to his LinkedIn. Tether is issuer of the world's largest stablecoin, USDT.

"Most integrations treat stablecoins as a funding source - something sitting in the background that gets converted when needed," WeFi's co-founder and CEO Maksym Sakharov told The Block. "Stablecoins are embedded directly into the underlying infrastructure, functioning as part of a unified balance. Users don't manage conversions or interact with separate systems. Settlement happens in the background. The experience is indistinguishable from any other payment."

Visa and WeFi's initiative will roll out to one region at a time, "starting with selected markets in Europe, Asia and Latin America" with expansion into additional markets dependent on regulatory approvals and partnerships.