Visa is bolstering its stablecoin initiative by integrating five new blockchains into its multichain strategy for global payments. The company announced on Wednesday that its stablecoin settlement pilot now encompasses nine networks, achieving a $7 billion annualized growth rate, which represents a 50% increase from the previous quarter. This program enables issuers and acquirers to settle transactions using stablecoins, bypassing traditional banking systems.
The newly integrated blockchains include Coinbase's Base, Polygon, Canton Network, Circle's Arc, and Stripe-backed Tempo, in addition to the existing integrations with Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, and Stellar. As stablecoins gain traction in global money movement, Visa's expansion is a strategic move to capitalize on the trend. Stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies pegged to the value of fiat currencies, are becoming increasingly popular for cross-border transactions.
Visa has been testing this model through pilots and regional rollouts, including the use of USDC for settlement in card programs across over 50 countries. By using blockchain-based dollars, partners can settle transactions in near real-time, eliminating the need for lengthy waiting periods associated with traditional banking systems.
Visa's support for multiple networks aims to provide partners with access to diverse liquidity pools without added complexity. 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 align with that 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.'