Visa Ends Credit Card Rewards Loophole for Meme Coins

| blockcast.it
Visa has reportedly instructed payment providers to stop classifying meme coin purchases as digital media transactions. The change follows tests showing that users could buy Solana-based dogwifhat (WIF) through Robinhood Wallet and Fomo using Crossmint’s checkout service and a Visa or Mastercard credit card. Some purchases were processed under merchant category code MCC 5815 for digital media, instead of cryptocurrency-related codes MCC 6012 or 6051. This allowed certain users to receive credit card points or cash back. JPMorgan Chase reviewed a test transaction, deemed the classification incorrect and referred the case to Visa. Visa has reportedly notified Checkout.com, a Crossmint payment partner, and is seeking to restore the cryptocurrency classification. The policy does not ban credit card purchases of meme coins, but it may remove rewards and reduce credit-card-funded meme coin demand. The development is unlikely to materially affect WIF or broader crypto prices, although it signals tighter standardisation of crypto payments. Mastercard has not confirmed whether it will adopt a similar policy.
Neutral
The direct price impact on WIF and SOL is likely neutral. The policy targets transaction coding and credit card rewards rather than trading access, token utility or network fundamentals. In the short term, traders may reduce credit-card-funded purchases, which could marginally weaken retail demand for WIF and increase volatility in low-liquidity meme coin markets. However, the affected payment route represents only one source of demand, and the change does not prohibit card purchases. Over the longer term, tighter merchant-code enforcement could reduce speculative impulse buying and limit payment incentives for meme coins. That may create a modest headwind for retail flows, but it is unlikely to determine WIF or SOL price direction without broader changes in liquidity, exchange access, regulation or market sentiment. Historical reactions to payment-policy changes are usually limited unless they materially restrict market access. Mastercard’s lack of a confirmed parallel policy also reduces the immediate market impact.