According to the financial institution, VISA and Mastercard provide users with “real-time settlement” for payment. However, transactions with Bitcoin's lightning network are much cheaper, with better privacy features.
The banking giant further explained that sending small payments is more practical with Lightning than with debit cards as the second-layer network can route transactions while charging almost no fees.
The bank further noted in its report that payments company Strike recently announced a partnership with point-of-sales supplier NCR and payments firm Blackhawk Network. This means a large number of American stores will soon be able to accept bitcoin due to Strike’s planned payment system using the Lighting Network.
According to Morgan Stanley, partnerships with physical stores are an important milestone in the “evolution of bitcoin usage as a medium of payment,” as over 85% of sales in the U.S. occur in shops rather than online.