Visa is bolstering its stablecoin initiative by incorporating five more blockchains, embracing a multichain strategy for global payments. The company announced on Wednesday that its stablecoin settlement pilot now covers nine networks, achieving a $7 billion annual run rate - a 50% increase from the previous quarter. This program enables issuers and acquirers to settle transactions using stablecoins, bypassing traditional banking channels.
The newly added blockchains include Coinbase's Base, Polygon, Canton Network, Circle's Arc, and Stripe-backed Tempo, supplementing existing integrations with Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, and Stellar. As stablecoins gain traction in cross-border money transfers, Visa is expanding its testing of this model through pilots and regional deployments, including USDC settlement linked to card programs in over 50 countries. By leveraging blockchain-based dollars, partners can settle transactions in near real-time, eliminating the need for days-long waits 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 multichain 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.'