The stablecoin ecosystem is expanding, and Visa is at the forefront of its development. As global interest in stablecoins takes center stage, Visa is building on its leadership in the space and enabling support for more stablecoins and more blockchains to facilitate settlement transactions for issuers and acquirers. Visa’s settlement platform is adding support for two additional USD-backed stablecoins, two blockchains and the euro-backed EURC. What’s new: More stablecoins: Through a new partnership with Paxos, Visa will be able to support two additional dollar-backed stablecoins, Global Dollar (USDG) and PayPal USD (PYUSD), bringing the transformative power of two more trusted stablecoins to our partners. More chains: Visa has added support for two blockchains, Stellar and Avalanche, in addition to already supported chains, Ethereum and Solana. More currencies: Visa has integrated Circle’s euro-backed stablecoin, EURC. With EURC integrated into the Visa Network, select pilot participating Visa partners can now access settlement in both USD- and EUR-backed stablecoins. This extends Visa’s crypto and treasury infrastructure capabilities which already facilitates settlement in more than 25 fiat currencies worldwide.
Visa sees stablecoins ‘massively expanding’ its opportunities to provide fraud prevention, dispute resolution and compliance checks, along with connections to bank payment rails
Visa’s stablecoin strategies could include the launch of its own coin someday. “This is just another mechanism for value exchange,” Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s head of cryptocurrency, said. “I see it massively expanding our addressable market.” Many analysts see stablecoins as a potential opportunity for Visa, and not a threat. Stablecoin payments are in theory cheaper than card fees, they still require services such as fraud prevention, dispute resolution and compliance checks, along with connections to bank payment rails and fiat currency conversion. Visa wants to serve as a bridge as the flow of money shifts, using its infrastructure to help make stablecoins more mainstream for merchants and consumers. “They are going after the land grab of empowering every possible stablecoin platform with a payment capability,” said Richard Crone, chief executive officer of payments consultant Crone Consulting. “This is a really big opportunity.” Visa says, “Our focus is on what we can do today: scale stablecoin-linked cards, enable stablecoin settlement, and work closely with our bank partners to help them leverage stablecoins across a range of use cases. That’s our near-term priority and what’s active in the market right now.” “We are piloting and partnering with stablecoin companies … as we build out our stablecoin settlement stack … we are working to streamline treasury operations, improve liquidity management and enable quick and more cost effective cross-border transactions,” Visa CEO Ryan McInerney said.
Visa Direct enables quickly transfering money between Webull brokerage account and external bank accounts.
Webull, an online investment platform, announced its collaboration with VISA on the Webull US platform. Visa Direct facilitates account funding as well as the movement of funds directly to eligible cards, bank accounts, and wallets. By integrating with Visa Direct, Webull users based in the United States can quickly transfer money between their Webull brokerage account and external bank accounts. The collaboration with Visa Direct allows Webull to implement a “Deposit” feature, which enables fast access to the market and empowers users to seize investment opportunities. While Automated Clearing House (ACH) and other common methods of moving money may take several days, Visa Direct gives users access to their funds in under a minute. Yanilsa Gonzalez-Ore, SVP, North America Head, Visa Direct said, “With Visa Direct, Webull can give their customers the speed, flexibility and protection they want with real-time payments[1], and deliver a simple, digitized experience to securely manage their funds, so they can confidently invest and trade.”