Visa currently has two patents in the Securities Tokenization sector, both related to blockchain and token solutions for digital wallets, payments, and tokenized account information. However, a recent patent application indicates that they are moving into the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) space. The patent describes a method for phasing out the use of physical currency in exchange for a government backed digital dollar (or other international currency). This patent along with their current patents could be easily used in conjunction, with tokenization as a solution for handling the actual transaction of the digital dollar. Their patents in tokenization describe using a token to hold the payment information when making a purchase at a store, as well as tokenizing the digital wallet information that could potentially be used to hold their new Digital Dollar idea. 

With the current COVID-19 pandemic still a widespread problem and many businesses outright refusing to accept physical cash anymore out of contamination concerns, the concept of digital currency could be accelerated into adoption. One version of the recent CARES Act Bill designed for economic stimulus explicitly mentions the idea of a digital dollar being used to disburse funds to citizens, although it did not make it into the final version of the bill. China has also been working on a version of a digital Yen backed by the Chinese Central Bank since 2014 that has been sped up due to COVID-19 and could be released soon. Whether Visa is the company to bring Digital Dollars to the U.S. or it comes in some other way, talk of a CBDC is quickly entering the mainstream and could become a very competitive space as companies try to patent or buy portfolios covering the infrastructure needed to support it. 

See more about the fast-growing sector of tokenization here.