Visa is bolstering its stablecoin initiatives by integrating five new blockchains, adopting a multichain strategy for international payments. The company's stablecoin settlement pilot, which now encompasses nine networks, has achieved a $7 billion annual run rate, marking a 50% increase from the previous quarter. This program enables issuers and acquirers to utilize stablecoins for transaction settlements, bypassing traditional banking channels.
The newly added blockchains - including Coinbase's Base, Polygon, Canton Network, Circle's Arc, and Stripe-backed Tempo - join the existing list of supported networks, which includes Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, and Stellar. As stablecoins gain traction in global money movement, Visa's strategic move aims to capitalize on their potential.
By facilitating near real-time transactions through blockchain-based dollars, partners can avoid the delays associated with traditional banking systems. Visa's expanded support for multiple networks seeks 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 this reality. By expanding our stablecoin settlement pilot to additional blockchains, our partners can select the networks that best suit their requirements while relying on Visa to deliver a unified settlement layer across all of them.'