became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. Visa Inc. announced the plan to acquire Visa Europe on November 2, 2015, creating a single global company. On April 21, 2016, the agreement was amended in response to the feedback of European Commission. The acquisition of Visa Europe was completed on June 21, 2016. Failed acquisition of Plaid On January 13, 2020, Plaid announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by Visa for $5.3 billion. The deal was double the company's most recent Series C round valuation of $2.65 billion, and was expected to close in the next 3–6 months, subject to regulatory review and closing conditions. According to the deal, Visa would pay $4.9 billion in cash and approximately $400 million of retention equity and deferred equity, according to a presentation deck prepared by Visa. On November 5, 2020, the United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit seeking to block the acquisition, arguing that Visa is a monopolist trying to eliminate a competitive threat by purchasing Plaid. Visa said it disagrees with the lawsuit and "intends to defend the transaction vigorously." Digital currencies On February 3, 2021, Visa announced a partnership with First Boulevard, a neobank promoting cryptocurrency, which has been touted as a means of building generational wealth for Black Americans. The partnership would allow their users to buy, sell, hold, and trade digital assets through Anchorage Digital. On March 29, 2021, Visa announced the acceptance of stable coin USDC to settle transactions on its network. Visa Foundation Registered in the United States as a 501(c)(3) entity, the Visa Foundation was created with the mission of supporting inclusive economies. In particular, economies in which individuals, businesses and communities can thrive with the support of grants and investments. Supporting resiliency, as well as the growth, of micro and small businesses that benefit women is a priority of the Visa Foundation. Furthermore, the Foundation prioritizes providing support to the community from a broad standpoint, as well as responding to disasters during crisis. Other initiatives In December 2020, Visa Announced the launch of a new accelerator program across Asia Pacific to further develop the region's financial technology ecosystem. The accelerator program aims to find and partner with startup companies providing financial and payments technologies that could potentially leverage on Visa's network of bank and merchant partners in the region. Finance For the fiscal year