Visa is bolstering its stablecoin offerings by integrating five new blockchains into its settlement network, underscoring its commitment to a multichain approach to global payment processing. The company announced on Wednesday that its stablecoin settlement pilot program now encompasses nine networks and has achieved an annualized transaction volume of $7 billion, marking a 50% increase from the previous quarter. This initiative enables issuers and acquirers to utilize stablecoins for transaction settlements, bypassing traditional banking channels.
The newly added blockchains, which include Coinbase's Base, Polygon, Canton Network, Circle's Arc, and Stripe-backed Tempo, join the existing roster of supported networks, such as Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, and Stellar. As stablecoins, or cryptocurrencies pegged to fiat currencies, continue to gain traction as a means of cross-border payment, Visa's expansion is poised to capitalize on this trend.
By facilitating near real-time transactions through blockchain-based dollars, partners can circumvent the delays associated with traditional banking systems. Furthermore, 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 are developing solutions in a multi-chain ecosystem, and they 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.'