Visa has announced an expansion of its stablecoin initiative by integrating five new blockchains, adopting a multi-chain strategy for global payment processing. The company's stablecoin settlement pilot program, which enables issuers and acquirers to settle transactions using stablecoins rather than traditional banking systems, now spans nine networks and has achieved a $7 billion annual run rate, representing a 50% increase from the previous quarter. The newly added blockchains, including Coinbase's Base, Polygon, Canton Network, Circle's Arc, and Stripe-backed Tempo, join existing integrations with Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, and Stellar.
This development occurs as stablecoins, cryptocurrencies pegged to fiat currencies, gain traction as a means of cross-border money movement. By supporting multiple networks, Visa aims to provide partners with access to diverse liquidity pools without added complexity, allowing for near real-time transaction settlement. According to Rubail Birwadker, Visa's global head of growth products and strategic partnerships, 'Our partners operate in a multi-chain environment and expect their options to reflect this reality.
By expanding our stablecoin settlement pilot program to more blockchains, our partners can select the networks that best suit their needs while relying on Visa to provide a unified settlement layer across all of them.'