Visa has announced an expansion of its stablecoin initiative by integrating five new blockchain networks, adopting a multichain strategy for global payments. The company's stablecoin settlement pilot program now spans nine networks and has achieved a $7 billion annual run rate, representing 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 added blockchain networks include Coinbase's Base, Polygon, Canton Network, Circle's Arc, and Stripe-backed Tempo, which join existing integrations with Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, and Stellar. As stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies pegged to the value of traditional currencies, continue to gain traction in cross-border money transfers, Visa has been testing and implementing this model through various pilots and regional launches. This includes the use of USDC for settlement in card programs across over 50 countries. By utilizing blockchain-based currencies, 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 are developing solutions in a multichain 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.'