Visa is bolstering its stablecoin initiative by integrating five additional blockchains, adopting a multichain strategy for global payments. The company announced on Wednesday that its stablecoin settlement pilot now encompasses nine networks, with a $7 billion annual run rate, marking a 50% increase from the previous quarter.
This program enables issuers and acquirers to settle transactions using stablecoins rather than traditional banking systems. The newly supported blockchains, including Coinbase's Base, Polygon, Canton Network, Circle's Arc, and Stripe-backed Tempo, join existing integrations with Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, and Stellar. As stablecoins gain traction in cross-border money movement, Visa's expansion comes at a pivotal time. By facilitating near real-time transactions using blockchain-based dollars, partners can bypass the days-long waiting period 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 reflect this reality. By expanding our stablecoin settlement pilot 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.'