Visa has announced the expansion of its stablecoin initiative by integrating five new blockchain networks, adopting a multichain strategy for global payment processing. The company's stablecoin settlement pilot program now covers nine networks, with a reported annualized transaction volume of $7 billion, representing a 50% increase from the previous quarter. This program enables issuers and acquirers to settle transactions using stablecoins, bypassing traditional banking systems. The newly added blockchain networks include Coinbase's Base, Polygon, Canton Network, Circle's Arc, and Stripe-backed Tempo, which join the existing integrations with Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, and Stellar.
As stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies pegged to the value of fiat currencies, continue to gain traction in cross-border transactions, Visa's move is part of its efforts to test and implement this model through various pilots and regional rollouts. By supporting multiple blockchain networks, Visa aims to provide its partners with access to diverse liquidity pools without added complexity, allowing for near real-time transaction settlements. According to Rubail Birwadker, Visa's global head of growth products and strategic partnerships, 'Our partners are developing solutions in a multichain environment, and they expect us to provide them with options that 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.'