Former Visa Crypto Leader Joins TON Foundation
The TON Foundation has appointed Nikola Plecas, a former executive at Visa, as its Vice President of Payments to enhance its payment infrastructure. Plecas has been given the reins upon which she will build a global payment ecosystem suitable for the wide range of Telegram users who exceed 1 billion.
Strategic Role in TON’s Blockchain Vision
The foundation wants Plecas to make payments a ‘first-class’ citizen in its blockchain endeavor. Plecas will be responsible for developing scalable payment solutions, identifying strategic partners, and ensuring compliance with various international jurisdictions. He will focus on enhancing TON’s payment rails to facilitate seamless transitions between fiat and crypto for both users and businesses.
Expertise in Digital Payments and Crypto Strategy
Plecas said, “It is thrilling to join TON Foundation and help shape the evolution of payments on a global scale.” In the early days, our focus is on establishing a transparent payments roadmap and enhancing on/off-ramp experiences.
Plecas has years of experience at Visa and has worked on crypto-related projects. He assisted Visa in structuring its digital asset strategy in Europe, improved crypto-fiat conversion processes, and regularly represented the firm at top fintech events. With extensive knowledge in crypto commercialization and product development, he is in an excellent position to help TON evolve its payment use cases.
Strategic Hiring for Web3 Payment Growth
Max Crown, CEO of the TON Foundation, who joined after co-founding the crypto platform MoonPay, said that this hire is strategic. Crown stated, “Payments are at the heart of our vision for a decentralized utility.” Nikola’s knowledge and leadership force will speed up our global expansion.
TON’s Ongoing Push into Blockchain Finance
This appointment comes at a time when TON is putting a big effort into financial services in blockchain. At the beginning of this month, Ethena launched its USDe and interest-bearing sUSDe tokens on the TON blockchain. Telegram users now can save in a dollar-denominated token through the app, by the name tsUSDe.
TON has increased its collaboration with Tether and integrated into its USDt ecosystem using LayerZero to enhance cross-chain liquidity and access to stable assets.
Making Blockchain Payments Mainstream
As TON expands into a full-fledged Web3 platform within Telegram, Plecas will make blockchain payments mainstream and easily accessible to everyday users across the globe.
